Organization XIII Infiltrates Beacon
by Haunted Leopard
Summary: Axel, Roxas, Luxord and Zexion are sent on a long term team mission to Remnant as new students. Original goal of mission: gain more information about Remnant while eliminating heartless (which have been appearing alongside the Grimm). Team RAZL (Razzle) Pairings to be determined.
1. A Whole New World

A spiky blonde youth wanders the monochrome halls of the Castle That Never Was. This young youth arrived in the Grey Area. He noticed his best friend, Number VIII, chilling on a couch and waved. Number VIII, otherwise known as Axel, waves back. The spiky blonde looks around and noticed the most reclusive member of the organization - Number VI aka Zexion, and the gambler - Number X aka Luxord, were also in the room. Shaking his head at the odd selection of people, the youngest member of Organization XIII approaches the rather scary individual known as Number VII aka Saïx.

"Roxas, make sure you're prepared. You will be going on a very special and long term mission. You, Axel, Luxord and Zexion will be going to a new world called Remnant. The reason you are being partnered with three people is because the four of you will have to interact with the people of this world and as such, you will posing as transfer students to the school known as Beacon. You are a team transferring from a school called Shade Academy. There are Heartless here and creatures similar called Grimm," Saïx informs.

"Sooooo what's our mission then?" Roxas asks, furrowing his blonde eyebrows at the information he was given.

"Your specific mission is to gather as much information as possible on the world while gathering Hearts," Saïx answers. The blonde Nobody then shrugs and he walks over to the other four members he would be working with for this mission.

"So! Roxas! You ready to go on this long term mission?" Axel asks, grinning widely.

"Uh yeah, but have you seen Xion? I figured she should know so that way she doesn't think we abandoned her.." Roxas trails off.

"Don't worry about that. I already told her. She left before you got here! So let's go!" Axel says, standing up.

"I have some information from when I first visited this world that will make our blending in easier," Zexion speaks up, closing his Lexicon.

"Well then, do share," Luxord says, looking at the Cloaked Schemer with interest.

"This world, Remnant, has something similar to our magic. It's called Dust. However, it is strictly elemental. To blend in, I would recommend only using magic like Fire, Thunder, Aero and Blizzard. Along with Dust, the people of Remnant have something called Aura. It is the manifestation of one's soul," Zexion starts explaining, going into lecture mode.

"Wait.. If we don't have Hearts, can we have this... Aura?" Roxas interrupts.

"Good question Roxas! We can have this Aura as Nobodies still possess a soul. However, in order to use Aura, we need to unlock it. Fortunately with my use of Illusions, I was able to get mine unlocked by a Huntsman, or one of the fighters of this world. I will unlock Roxas's. Roxas will unlock Axel's and then Axel will unlock Luxord's," Zexion says.

"Already starting the team exercises?" Axel smirks.

"No. I am simply making it possible for all of us to have our Auras as unlocking one's Aura seems to drain the person," Zexion scowls. He motions for the spiky blonde Nobody to approach him. Roxas shrugs and approaches Zexion, standing in front of him.

"Alright.. what do I do?" Roxas asks, looking at the silver haired Nobody.

"Nothing," Zexion answered. He pets his left hand on Roxas's right cheek and his right hand on Roxas's chest. " _For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee,"_ the Cloaked Schemer chants. Silver engulfs Zexion as a bright gold color engulfs Roxas. Afterwards, Zexion slumps and sits on the couch. Roxas watched in fascination as the gold fades away.

"Alrighty! My turn Roxie!" Axel grins, looking at the shorter Nobody.

"Uh, could you bend down so I can reach you?" Roxas asks. Axel chuckled and leans forward. Roxas ignored the weird feeling in his chest and repeats the same process that Zexion did. Roxas is once more engulfed in his gold Aura and Axel is soon enough engulfed in a bright red, a red that was almost the same shade as his own hair. Roxas stumbled a bit as the exhaustion hit him but Axel was quick enough to steady the short blonde and set him onto the couch next to Zexion.

"Alright, last one! Luxord get over here," Axel says, turning his emerald gaze onto the platinum blonde. Luxord chuckles and he gets up, walking over to Axel. Axel repeats what Roxas and Zexion did. The bright red color shines once more over Axel. A greyish-purple surprisingly covers the Gambler of Fate, the only one to have a color that wasn't similar to his hair color. Axel slumped forward a bit as well, Luxord steadying him and setting the redheaded Nobody on the chair.

"Well now that that is done and over with, are you ready to explain more Zexion?" Luxord asks, looking at Number VI. Said Nobody stands, his Aura now replenished.

"Yes. Well, we might discover a new ability called Semblance which is a power related to our persons. One more thing comes to mind. There's a race of humans called Faunus. They are humans with some sort of animal like quality such as a tail, ears, etc. Along with this, they have heightened senses and other attributes of the animals they are like. I highly doubt this will happen to us, but it's possible one or more of us could become a Faunus," Zexion says. The other three Nobodies nod and take a moment to let all of the information sink in and for Roxas and Axel recover their Aura.

"Alright! Let's go!" Axel says, ready to start this rather interesting mission they were getting. Zexion opens up a Dark Corridor to the world of Remnant. The four Nobodies then step through the Dark Corridor, the corridor closing when they arrive in Remnant. They look around and notice that they appeared to be on the school grounds. Zexion dug into his cloak pocket and pulled out four slim, white objects and handed them out. He explains that these were called Scrolls and that they were the means of communication on Remnant. He also explained that their information would be on there, and they each had a last name they would have to use.

"Wait, don't we need a team name and a leader?" Luxord says.

"Oh yeah, we do, don't we?" Roxas says, looking at the gambler. Zexion smiles.

"Already have that solved. The Superior and I figured that out. You are to be the team leader Roxas and we are Team RAZL," Zexion explains. Roxas just gives a look to the Cloaked Schemer that read 'Are you fuckin kidding me?'

"Urgh, why me?" Roxas groaned.

"Well you ARE the Keyblade Wielder," Axel says, patting Roxas on the head. "But we should probably get to the headmaster guy of this school, yeah?"

"Correct," Zexion says with a nod. As the four start to move, they noticed a young girl with black and red hair approaching them with a rather busty blonde. Soon enough, they were approached by the duo.

"Hey, who are you guys? You're new around here. Are you part of a cult?" the blonde female asks.

"Yeah, we're new, and no we're not a cult. We're new transfer students," Luxord answers smoothly.

"Oh! We can take you to Headmaster Ozpin then! I'm Ruby Rose! And this is my half-sister Yang Xiao Long," the black and red themed girl, now known as Ruby says.

"Luxord Fortunae."

"Axel Brändle, got it memorized?"

"Roxas Lichtenberg."

"Zexion Somnium."

"Well, follow us and we can yet you settled in!" Yang says cheerfully. The four Nobodies follow the pair of sisters to the headmaster's office, their mission now officially beginning in this whole new world.


	2. These Transfers Are Pretty Suspicious

When Ozpin was informed that Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long of Team RWBY had asked to see him, the sight he was present with was not one he was expecting. Behind his two students was a group of four males, all in mysterious and slightly suspicious black, matching coats. He noticed there were two tall males and two short males. Something about the males rubbed him the wrong way for he could tell they had Aura, but still somehow felt similar to that of a Grimm. Despite his surprise at these four males, he kept his usual poker-face and took a sip from his mug of hot chocolate.

"Hello Miss Rose, Miss Xiao Long. Who might your friends be and why have you brought them here?" Ozpin greets.

"Well we found them on our school grounds looking lost and they said they were transfers from Shade Academy," Ruby says, pressing her pointer fingers together.

"I see. I was not aware of having transfers coming from Shade. Or any transfers for that matter..." Ozpin says, looking at the males. Before Roxas could accidentally blow their cover, Luxord spoke up.

"Ah, that's because we didn't inform our Headmistress that we were transferring. We wanted to make sure you would be alright with us transferring here before we officially transferred anywhere," Luxord says smoothly.

"Ah. Not the usual way to do it, but then again Shade is known for it's more lax approach to life. May I have your information then?" Ozpin says. Roxas stepped forward with his Scroll since he was the team leader. He hands the Scroll to Ozpin and the headmaster takes it. After a few minutes, he seems to be typing onto it before handing it back to Roxas. "Team RAZL then? Everything seems to be in order here.. Miss Rose, Mis Xiao Long, could you two bring them to the dorm next to yours?"

"Yessir!" Ruby and Yang said together.

"Wonderful. I will have all of your Scrolls properly registered to the door so you can all access the room without Mr.. Litchenberg being present," Ozpin says.

"Thank you," Zexion says, bowing his head to Ozpin. He then follows the two female students out of Ozpin's office with his team. Ozpin watches the group of six leave. He was suspicious of the group since of how similar they dressed, but at the same time, their story added up. He would have to make a call to Headmistress Blaze after informing his inner circle about the supposed transfer students. Ozpin waits for Glynda to arrive and for Ironwood and Qrow to answer. Glynda appeared first, Ironwood a few minutes later and then Qrow eventually.

"You're lucky I'm in a spot where I can take a call Oz. What's up?" Qrow says the moment he was connected.

"I have reason to believe some unknown force has appeared on Remnant. Just now, two of my students brought up a group of four males that said they were transfers from Shade Academy, coming to see if Beacon would be the place they actually wanted to transfer to before making an official transfer," Ozpin says.

"That doesn't seem to be very suspicious Ozpin. You know the Vacuans would do something like this if they wanted to," Ironwood says.

"I'd have to agree with General Ironwood on that one," Glynda adds, frowning lightly.

"While that is true, there's a reason I'm suspicious of the group. When these supposed transfers entered my office, I could tell that they had Aura but there's something wrong with them. They felt similar to that of Grimm," Oz stated.

"Wait... They felt like Grimm but had Auras? That's not possible..." Qrow frowned.

"Do you have images of these students?" Ironwood asks. Ozpin nods and he uploads the profiles of the four he had downloaded from Roxas's scroll. The other three look through them.

"I think you're onto something Ozpin. I'll have my men look into all of the databases for these four. See if they pop up. I'll let you know if we find anything," Ironwood says before disconnecting.

"I'll keep a sharp eye on them in combat class," Glynda says. Qrow takes a moment to think about his words.

"Those coats. I swear I've seen something like that before.. That's really weird how the four of them all have the exact same coat.. Now where did I see that coat before. If I remember, I'll let you know Oz. You're right. Those four are suspicious," Qrow comments before disconnecting. Glynda then takes her leave, allowing Ozpin to make his call to Headmistress of Shade. Ozpin calls Headmistress Blaze and only has to wait three rings before a coyote Faunus answers.

"Headmaster Ozpin! What a surprise! How can I help ya?" Blaze answered, surprise on her tanned face very obvious.

"I just received a team of prospective students claiming to be from your academy and wanted to confirm with you that this was the case," Ozpin says.

"Sure thing. What's the team name and their leader's name?" Blaze asks.

"Team RAZL, led by Roxas Lichtenberg," the silver haired headmaster answered. A moment of silence passes as the coyote Faunus types the information in. She blinks.

"Huh, they're in my files but I don't remember them from Initiation... And I usually remember all of my teams," Blaze says. "Do you find that odd Ozpin?"

"Only a little Blaze. But thank you for the confirmation," Ozpin says. It would seem his suspicions were even more confirmed.

"No problem! I'll talk to you later," the headmistress says before disconnecting. Ozpin sighed heavily before taking a long sip of his hot chocolate. He just hoped these four were not working for Salem for some reason. He also had to wonder if these four had anything to do with the weird Grimm-like creatures that had been popping up lately. For now, he could only sit back and observe the mysterious Team RAZL.

 **~ The Next Day ~**

Roxas woke to loud alarm and jolted awake. He heard a chuckle and saw both Zexion and Luxord already awake. He fortunately remembered that they were on a long term mission in a world called Remnant. He sighed and got out of his bed. The beds were bunkbeds, he was on the bottom, Axel on top and then the other set being Zexion on the bottom and Luxord on the top. Roxas noticed the spiky redhead was still asleep. Deciding to give his best friend a rude awakening, he casts a simple Thunder. Axel wakes with a yelp and almost smacks his forehead on the ceiling, causing Roxas to grin, Luxord to smirk, and Zexion to chuckle.

"Awe Roxas.. That was uncool man!" Axel whined, hopping down from the bunk.

"You didn't wake to the alarm so.. I improvised," Roxas says.

"Don't forget we have class in an hour, so I suggest getting ready fast," Zexion says. It was only then that Roxas and Axel noticed that Zexion and Luxord were looking rather sharp in their uniforms, having worn them properly.

"Right... We have to blend in.. No coats unless fighting I suppose.." Roxas sighed.

"Oh come on Roxas, it's not that bad! Besides, who said you have to wear it exactly like those two?" Axel smirks.

"You have a point..." Roxas says. Half an hour later, Axel and Roxas had showered and were now dressed for the day. Axel, being the most carefree of the group, wasn't wearing the jacket. He was wearing the pants, vest and shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The tie was missing as well, allowing the collar to be unbuttoned at the top. Roxas was similarly dressed to Axel, except he had the tie and his sleeves were neatly rolled up whereas Axel's were more messy.

"Why am I not surprised..." Zexion sighs, pinching his nose. Axel just smirks at the Cloaked Schemer.

"Let's just get some breakfast before class starts..." Roxas says, leaving the room, the other three following behind. RAZL sat quietly with their food, minding their own business and ignoring the blatant stares they were getting. When the warning bell went off, the four head off in attempt to find their class, which fortunately they found just in time. In front of them was a rather tall individual with spiky green hair.

"Ah! Welcome Team RAZL! I am Doctor Oobleck and I will be your history teacher! Please introduce yourselves to your fellow first years!" the man now known as Oobleck says before zooming back over to his desk. Roxas sighed and headed to the front with his team.

"Uh... Hi.. I'm Roxas Lichenberg," he says.

"Axel Brändle, got it memorized~?" Axel smirks, tapping his temple. He noticed some girls swooning over him.

"Zexion Somnium," Zexion says pleasantly.

"Luxord Fortunae," the Gambler of Fate smirked. He too noticed he had some fangirls already. In fact, he noticed one particular girl with white hair seemed to fixated on him. He winked at the girl, who in turned blushed lightly and looked away. After introducing themselves, the four find empty seats and quickly take them. As expected, Axel didn't pay attention, Roxas falling asleep, Zexion diligently taking notes and Luxord just listening. After an hour passes, the bell rings for next class. RAZL makes their way out of the classroom, only to get stopped by Team RWBY.

"Hi guys! I want you to meet the rest of my team! This is Weiss Schnee and Blake Belladonna," Ruby says excitedly.

"It is a pleasure to meet you," Weiss says, an air of an heiress about her. Luxord takes her hand and kisses it respectfully.

"The pleasure is ours. I assume you must be an heiress?" Luxord says. Weiss had blushed but nodded.

"I am! I am the Heiress of the Schnee Dust Company," the white themed girl said proudly.

"Like Weiss said, nice to meet you. Now, we should probably get to Professor Goodwitch's class," Blake says.

"Goodwitch? What is her name Glynda or something?" Axel jokes.

"Actually yeah," Blake says. This causes Axel to snort but he smirks. The two teams then head to Glynda's class, Team RWBY curious as to who they would get witness from Team RAZL fight. After just making it in time, once more, seats were quickly found and taken. Glynda walks out onto the stage to address the class.

"As I'm sure you're aware, we have new students from Shade joining us. As such, today and tomorrow will have them tested against you randomly," Glynda announced. After making certain adjustments, the randomizer eventually showed Axel VS Yang. "Mr. Brändle, Miss Xiao Long, please go get ready. You have five minutes."

Axel and Yang grin at each other, both ready for a fight. The two head off towards the locker rooms. When the two return, Axel was in his usual Organization attire, his Eternal Flames in his hands. Yang had her rather showy attire and her Ember Celica transformed into gauntlet form. Both persons take to one side of the stage. On the screen above them, their pictures and Aura level was displayed.

"We will go by tournament rules as usual, meaning that anyone out of the ring or with an Aura in the red levels loses. Also, anyone unconscious or who yields, also loses. No intentional head-shots as we are not here to kill one another," Glynda says. She steps out of the fighting zone. "Proceed when ready!"

Yang immediately shoots off with a bang, quite literally as she fires two shotgun rounds behind her, launching herself at the spiky redhead. Axel stood where he was, twirling his chakrams, watching as Yang launched towards him. Yang pulls back a fist and then aims a punch right at Axel's pretty face, only to hit the center of the chakram. Axel bends his arm back a bit and then shoves Yang backwards before sending the chakram after her. He quickly followed as to not show off the summoning powers that he and the others had. He retrieved the chakram after it struck Yang's midriff and bounced back towards him.

The blonde brawler grunted when she got hit with the chakram, having not expected to first be pushed and then have the damn thing thrown at her. She smirked a bit since it was just making her more powerful. She runs again at Axel, throwing punches and kicks, only for the redhead to evade or block her hits. Yang had ducked when Axel sliced at her, which resulted in some of her hair getting cut. Her team noticed and had a feeling Axel was done for when Yang's Semblance was activated. Axel noted how Yang's eyes turned red and she seemed to shimmer in fire and he just smirked. He leapt back.

"Fire eh? Two can play at that blondie!" Axel says, allowing his chakrams to have some fire, casting a silent Fire, as if he was using fire Dust.

"You'll regret messing up my hair pretty boy!" Yang says, launching herself with more vigor and this time more damage to deal.

"Awe, you think I'm pretty. I'll keep that memorized," Axel smirked more, taunting Yang a tad. He launched himself at Yang. When the two collided, chakrams clashing against fist, both were blasted backwards, barely staying within the ring. Axel quickly glanced at his Aura and was surprised that he still had a good amount of Aura left. Deciding to test his Semblance, he grinned seeing it was his lovely Explosion Limit Break. His chakrams were now engulfed in flames and he mercilessly unleashes them upon Yang, who had recovered and was heading her way towards him. The chakrams hit Yang, a mini explosion each time. Each chakram was thrown four times before Axel combined the two into one large fiery chakram of doom and threw it at Yang. And well, Yang flew out of the ring with a bang, her Aura also in the red.

"Winner is Axel Brändle! Well done Mr. Brändle. That was a very powerful Semblance you displayed. While you are in fine shape fighting wise, perhaps work on making it sharper. As for you Miss Xiao Long, you let your temper get the better of you and your moves were predictable. Mr. Brändle, please help Miss Xiao Long to the infirmary," Glynda says.

"Sure thing. Hey Rox! Catch!" Axel says, tosses his chakrams to the Keyblade wielder, knowing that he couldn't just dispel them. Roxas caught them and set them on the desk. Axel goes over to Yang and helps her up, putting one of her arms around his shoulders, and one of his arms around her waist. "Let's go Blondie."

"Yeah yeah Pretty Boy. You got lucky," Yang huffed as she headed out with Axel who just smirked.

"Prove me wrong next time then," he challenged. Yang gave a tired grin in acceptance. The two didn't notice that the next fight was Zexion VS Cardin.

* * *

A/N: Hello readers! If you could take the poll on my profile, that would be greatly appreciated!


	3. Zexion VS Cardin Then a Recon Kitty

Zexion had a bad feeling about being paired against the powerhouse that Cardin Winchester seemed to be. While Zexion could tell that Cardin had a similar fighting style to Lexaeus, he knew that the moment his Lexicon was out of his hand, he would be in trouble. It was going to be hard explaining how a BOOK could possibly be an efficient weapon and he wasn't going use magic without his book. The Cloaked Schemer sighed as he waited for Glynda to give them the go ahead. Zexion held his Lexicon in his right hand and made it look like he was reading instead of paying attention to the fight. Cardin falls for the bait and sneers.

"What a loser, reading when you're supposed to be fighting!" Cardin says, trying to bait Zexion, not realizing he was already baited. Zexion seemingly ignores Cardin, which pisses off the brute. CDRL's leader, in a huff of anger, starts running at Zexion, his mace ready to strike down. A faint smirk appears on Zexion's face as he notices Cardin about to swing down and when the much larger male does, Zexion simply raises his Lexicon up and blocks the attack. The smirk on Zexion's face widens and becomes a tad more cruel at seeing the surprised look on Cardin's face. Casting a silent firaga, the silver-haired Nobody sends Cardin flying backwards.

Cardin was furious. Here he was, paired against a bookworm who actually uses a book as a weapon and he just got blasted away. He charges again, and swings. His mace misses and he scowls, having sworn that Zexion was right in his path. He felt cold spread around his feet and on his back. Looking to his right which was where Zexion had apparently been, he saw the small male quickly strike him in the back with the book, causing him to grunt and break a foot free.

Zexion was enjoying this fight too much, well enjoying it as a Nobody could. He made a note that Cardin could be a potential candidate to turn into a Heartless and Nobody. After having dislodged one of Cardin's feet, he went for another strike on the back but had "accidentally" hit Cardin over the head with his Lexicon. Glynda just gave him a warning and Zexion thanked Kingdom Hearts for giving him power of Illusions. He was using them in minor ways so that in case his Semblance was also his Limit Break, he didn't have too many powers. Jumping back from a swing of the mace, Zexion continues to back up. If he wanted to win this, he needed to tire Cardin out. He already knocked Cardin's Aura into the "I'm green but basically yellow" zone.

"A little weakling like you won't get the better of me!" Cardin snarls as he comes at Zexion, this time more wary of where the black cloaked male was. Zexion observes Cardin's moves and keeps himself at a distance. He noticed the swings were shorter and quicker but less powerful. Despite using less power, the Cloaked Schemer could tell that Cardin was not a speed build and that the quick swipes were tiring him out and he dances out of harm's way, blocking here and there. Seeing his chance, the Nobody casts an aeroga to get Cardin in the air and then uses a thundaga to electrocute Cardin since he was wearing metal armor. Both attacks, since they were the highest level spell, knocked Cardin into the red.

"End Match! Mr. Somnium wins. While I question your choice of weapon, I can see you know what you're doing. I would recommend getting a blade of some kind or perhaps a gun. Mr. Winchester. You need to work on your temper still and build your speed endurance up some more. Your moves were so predictable that even a four year old could learn the pattern quickly," Glynda says before dismissing the two. Zexion simply headed back to the locker room to change back, taking Axel's chakrams with him.

When classes had finished for the day, Team RAZL decided that they would all split up to do some recon on Remnant to help blend in with this world. Axel and Roxas decided to go into town to learn about the local spots and any place that would benefit them... And possibly an ice cream spot. Luxord went to go find Weiss, having a feeling he could get information about Dust and Atlas out of her easily as well as any other information she may be willing to hand out. Zexion went to the library since out of the four, he was the bookworm. He finds his way to Beacon's library and goes to the history section, grabbing many books about Beacon, Vale and even Remnant itself. After grabbing about five books, the Cloaked Schemer finds a quiet spot away from everyone else to settle down and read. The area had a small round table and two cushioned chairs, the kind that one would find in an office building, colored a soft red. He was still in his uniform as he and the others still needed casual clothes outside their Organization cloaks. Having been so focused on his goal, the silver haired Nobody didn't notice someone doing recon on him.

 **~ A little bit before ~**

Blake Belladonna had been very suspicious of the new transfer team that Ruby and Yang had found. But then again, she was suspicious about everyone at first. Unlike everyone else however, Team RAZL was raising alarms in the back of her mind. She knew they were powerful and that was before Yang's fight against Axel and Cardin's fight against Zexion. Her mind drifted towards the silver-haired bookworm of Team RAZL. He was a man after her own heart and if she was honest, he was pretty good looking. After a few moments of daydreaming, the cat-Faunus shakes her head and focuses again. Blake had felt the power radiating off of them and there was something... dark about them and it was bothering her to no end. Her instincts were telling her to run far, far away but her mind would not let her. So, she decided to do some recon on Team RAZL, well more like recon on Zexion. After classes had ended, the cat girl slipped away from her team to go find her person of interest.. Only to run into Luxord.

"Oh, er, sorry Luxord," Blake says, looking at the platinum blonde. Luxord gives a charming smile.

"No worries.. Blake was it?" Luxord says pleasantly.

"Yeah. Uh do you know where Zexion went..? I saw his weapon and I wanted to ask him about it," Blake says, telling a partial truth.

"Ah yes. Quite interesting isn't it? Having a Lexicon for a weapon. But I will tell you where he went if you could inform me of where one of your own teammates might be... One Miss Weiss Schnee," the Gambler says.

"Fair enough. She's currently studying in our dorm which is next to yours. I'm sure she'll let you in no problem," Blake says, knowing damn well that the Heiress had instantly fallen for Luxord.

"Wonderful. Thank you Blake. You'll find Zexion in the library," Luxord says before heading towards Team RWBY's dorm. Blake watched him go before scurrying off towards the library. Her yellow eyes scan for the hard to miss silver hair of her target and soon enough she finds him in the history section. Blake turns to the books in front of her and pulls one off at random and opens it, flipping a page here and there. To the untrained eye, it looked like Blake was interested in the book she had pulled. This was not the case. She was watching Zexion pull off various books, most of those about Vale and Beacon which didn't strike her at all since he was supposedly a transfer from Shade. However, one book stood out to her - a Remnant history book. This confused her as she wouldn't expect a bookworm like Zexion, assuming he was a bookworm like herself, to grab a Remnant history book. Soon enough, Zexion had the books he wanted and started to walk away. Blake puts the book back as she waits a few moments before following quietly and in the shadows. Blake didn't know how to feel about the silver haired male having found her little hiding nook. On one hand, she was excited as it meant she could use it as an excuse to get to know Zexion better. On the other hand, it meant someone other than the librarian knew where to find her. The cat-Faunus takes a deep breath before pulling out _The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde_ and burying her nose into the chapter she left off on as she walks over to the spot. She looks up as she arrives and mocks surprise on her face.

"Oh, Zexion. I didn't see you there.." Blake says. Zexion looks up from his book at hearing her voice. His aqua gaze locks with Blake's yellow one. He snaps his book shut.

"Hello Blake. I take it you often come here to read?" Zexion asks. He gets a nod. "Well, if you don't mind sharing the spot, feel free to join me," he says. Zexion decides to take this chance to get information from Blake should she join him.

"I don't. You're not like the others," Blake says. She walks over to the other chair and sits down, pulling her legs to her chest. "What were you reading?"

"History mainly. Just brushing up on my Remnant history and then also gaining information about Vale and Beacon since I'm not familiar with the place," Zexion says.

"Ah, what made your team want to transfer to Beacon?" Blake asks.

"We were getting sick of the rough sands and brutal environment that Vacuo is," Zexion says. His eyes trail up to Blake's bow and that's when he spotted a slight twitch. The yellow eyes made sense to him now. "You're a Faunus aren't you? A cat one?"

"W-What? N-No I'm not!" Blake stutters, shocked that Zexion figured her out.

"Relax. I'm not going to hate you for it. Not like you had the choice. Besides, Vacuans are the most accepting of the Faunus. You should know that," Zexion says. Blake sighs.

"Yeah.. You're right. And I am a cat-Faunus. What gave it away?" Blake says, feeling slightly stupid for that simply mistake.. And for the shitty lying.

"Well your eyes are unnaturally colored for a human and then I noticed your bow twitch. May I see your ears?" Zexion simply explains. Blake looks around hesitantly before undoing the bow and revealing her cute little cat ears. Zexion had leaned forward when explaining how he figured it out, having had a feeling Blake would like for him to keep it secret. Upon seeing the ears, the Nobody reached out a hand towards Blake's head and his fingertips brush against the black cat ears before either realize what had been done. Zexion jerks his hand back, sending an apologetic smile to Blake who in turn hurriedly covers her ears back up.

"I'm not usually this chatty but I figured since you're a fellow bookworm, we could get to know each other better..?" Blake says after an awkward silence passes over the two.

"I like that idea," Zexion says. If he could get close to one of the students, it would make navigating this world better and learning about the world a lot easier. Plus, it seemed like Blake could be an interesting friend to have.. Something he only partially saw in Lexaeus. Yes, things were working out quite well for the Cloaked Schemer... After all, he just got himself a recon kitty.


	4. Ice Cream!

Axel and Roxas were walking around the streets of Vale, looking for various stores that would be handy for them to know and to familiarize themselves with Vale. Axel was first to spot a clothing store. Fortunately, the clothes there were cheap enough when the two had looked around. Deciding to check their munny reserves, Roxas reaches into a little pouch but blinks when feeling rectangles instead of the usual orb. The spiky blonde pulls out a few.

"Huh, so I guess we're fine on money. Convenient," Roxas comments, looking at the lien.

"Sweet! Let's get some outfits then. We'll just tell Zexion and Luxord about this place later," Axel grins. Roxas nods in agreement and the two decide to grab two outfits to start out with. After paying for their outfits, the two decide to change into one of the two outfits they had just purchased. Axel stepped out in a simple black shirt with sleeves that came to his elbows and simple red jeans, both skin tight. For accessories, he had a black wristband on his right wrist and a spiked bracelet. Roxas wore a red t-shirt and grey pants. Over his red shirt, he wore a long sleeved white button up that had black squares where the buttons and button holes were. The collar was also checkered. Axel and Roxas look at the other one and nod in approval before heading out of the clothing store to continue their search of Vale. They spot a weapon and dust store and kept that in mind for Zexion later. Of course, both Axel and Roxas were keeping an eye out for an ice cream shop and that was when they heard a familiar voice.

"Roxas! Axel! Over here!" came the voice of one Ruby Rose. The two Nobodies turned and looked. With Ruby was her sister Yang and two females they recognized but didn't know. The two wander over.

"Yo! What's up? And who we got here?" Axel says, his usual smirk on his face. His emerald eyes take in the sights of the two unfamiliar females with them. One was short with short orange hair and aqua eyes and seemed to have a thing for pink. She was also very hyper. 'Probably get along with Demyx..' Axel thought before turning his gaze to the other girl. He was genuinely surprised to see that the girl was very similar to him in looks - bright emerald eyes, rather tall and bright red hair that was a slightly different shade of red than his own. He had to admit the girl was beautiful even if he couldn't have... feelings.

"Hello! I'm Pyrrha Nikos," the redhead says. Roxas and Axel of course didn't react to her name which made Pyrrha really happy that these two didn't know about her fame.

"And I'm Nora Valkyrie!" the orange haired girl piped up.

"Nice to meet you," Roxas says with a small smile.

"We would introduce ourselves but I'm sure you already got that memorized," Axel says, a tad cocky.

"Is that like your catchphrase or something?" Yang asks.

"Sadly it is. Don't encourage it," Roxas says.

"Roxas! How could you say such a mean thing! I thought we were best friends!" Axel says dramatically. This caused all of the girls to giggle and Roxas to groan.

"Anyways, what are you guys doing out here?" Ruby asks.

"We were walking around to get to know Vale better," Roxas says. He then lifts the bag he was holding. "Also needed new clothes since our old ones were pretty beat up."

"Well, you two look very nice," Pyrrha compliments. Her gaze was drawn to the spiky redheaded male. She had noticed the startling similarity but she couldn't help but have her breath taken away. The tight fitting clothes definitely weren't helping with how attractive he appeared to her. Shaking her head, Pyrrha focuses back on the conversation. However, her lingered gaze did not go unnoticed by her shorter teammate Nora.

"What brings you guys here?" Axel asks, curious.

"Well... We were going to have a Girls' Night in Vale buuut that went awry when Blake disappeared and Weiss wanted to study," Ruby says, her pointer fingers pushing together. Nora snorted.

"Studying? Yeah right Ruby. Shortly before I joined up with you guys, she let Luxord into your dorm room! She's probably making out with him!" Nora says.

"WHAT?! NO WAY!" Ruby shouted.

"Oh come on, you didn't see how she was drooling over Luxord?" Yang laughed. Axel chuckled.

"That sounds about right. Luxord was definitely one of the lady-killers back at Shade," Axel comments.

"So were you Axel," Roxas comments, deciding to play along with that idea. After all, he had noticed how many girls seemed to swoon over Axel and Luxord.

"What can I say? The ladies dig a man with either class or a bad boy side," Axel smirked. Roxas just rolls his eyes at his friend.

"Anyways! Would you two want to join us since our Girls' Night is essentially ruined?" Yang asks. Roxas and Axel look at each other and shrug.

"Sure. Why not?" Roxas says.

"Yes!" Ruby cheers happily. She was still a little nervous with making friends but now that she had not only her team but also Team JNPR, the small red themed leader was more confident in her ability to make friends. She also may or may not have already begun to form a small little crush on one of the members of Team RAZL. "Was there anywhere you guys wanted to go to in particular?"

"Actually, there was. Do you know if there's an ice cream shop around here?" Axel responds.

"Oooooo! I do! Follow me!" Nora says excitedly. None of the females were surprised to know that Nora knew. The energetic Huntress in training leads her fellow students towards a nice little ice cream shop down a few blocks before turning left. She posed in front of the shop with a big grin before heading inside happily. The other five follow. While the girls went to make their order, Roxas and Axel had to look over the flavors. Sadly, but expected, there was no sea salt ice cream. Eventually they decided and went to make their order. Ruby had gotten chocolate chip cookie dough while Yang had gotten a strawberry daiquiri like flavor. Nora had gone with a cotton candy and bubblegum flavor while Pyrrha had settled for a simple black raspberry ice cream with chocolate chunks. Roxas decided to try a salted caramel with peanut butter cups ice cream while Axel had gone with double chocolate fudge. The six walk out, happily eating their ice cream, Roxas and Axel surprisingly satisfied with their flavor choices. Ruby was about to sit down when Axel spoke.

"I bet we can find a way to sit up there," Axel says, pointing to a clock tower that wasn't too far. He had spotted it while he and Roxas were walking around. The redheaded Nobody had also seen a way up without the Corridor of Darkness.

"On top of the clock tower? But won't we get in trouble?" Pyrrha asks, a little worried.

"...only if we get caught," came Roxas's reply. He had had the same thought as Axel.

"Oooo~ danger while eating ice cream! I like it!" Nora grins.

"I'm all for it!" Yang grins.

"Majority rules! To the clock tower," Ruby says, looking at Pyrrha. Axel led the way to the clock tower. It wasn't too far of a walk and soon enough they were there.

"Just watch me and Rox! We did this kind of thing back in Vacuo and Shade when possible," Axel says. He starts climbing the path he had spotted, Roxas following with ease. Nora was next and she easily followed, Yang right behind her. Pyrrha went next but was careful. She made it up gracefully. Ruby took a deep breath before allowing her speed Semblance help her reach places. She makes it on top and was amazed, just like the other three girls at the sight she saw.

"It's.. beautiful..." Pyrrha breathed out.

"Welcome to a tradition of ours - Ice Cream and Beautiful Sunsets!" Axel says with a flourish. He and Roxas then take a seat on the edge, the girls following suite.

"You guys are such geniuses!" Ruby squealed before eating her ice cream some more.

"The credit is all Axel's. He came up with the idea originally," Roxas says. The Key of Destiny lets his thoughts drift to the memories of him, Axel and Xion all sitting on the clock tower in Twilight Town together. A small, and slightly sad, smile appears on his lips as he realizes that it will be a long time before that even has a chance of happening. He focuses on his ice cream so that it didn't melt off of his cone. The spiky blonde thought about Xion and hoped she was doing okay with him or Axel. They had only been on Remnant for about two days and yet he seemed to already miss Xion. Sure there were some members he could do without seeing like Saïx, Vexen, Larxene and Marluxia to name a few. Would he consider Team RWBY and Team JNPR to be friends like he considered Axel and Xion? Maybe, but it was hard to tell. He would like to call them friends but he knew that if he ever did consider them friends, it would be harder to leave Remnant when they finished their long-term mission here. Even after finishing his ice cream, Roxas was deep in thought and deep into memory lane.

"Remnant to Roxas!" came Axel's voice that broke the leader of Team RAZL out of his thoughts.

"Huh?" Roxas says, looking to his best friend.

"It's time to head back zombie," Axel teased, causing Roxas to roll his eyes and playfully shove Axel. The six head back down the clock tower and head towards the docking bays so they could hop onto a bullhead and make it back to their dormitories with ease.

 **~ Remnant, Location Unknown, Time Unknown ~**

A lone man sits at a bar, nursing a glass of whiskey. This man was none other than Qrow Branwen. Ever since Ozpin had called him and told him about the transfer students from Shade, Qrow had been trying to figure out why those cloaks looked so familiar. It had been bothering him that he couldn't place where he had seen those cloaks. Sighing, the black haired man knocked back his whiskey and paid his tab before leaving the bar. He steps outside and lets the cool night air hit him in the face, his dull red eyes closing for a moment. Then it hits him. His eyes snap open and the veteran Huntsman morphs into a crow. Qrow flies to a tree some distance away to have some privacy to speak to Ozpin. He lands and morphs again, sitting on a sturdy branch. Pulling out his Scroll, Qrow calls Ozpin. A few rings pass before the call is answered.

"Ah, hello Qrow. It's quite late. I assume you have something important that couldn't wait for morning?" Ozpin says.

"Yeah Oz. I remembered where I've seen those cloaks. I don't remember the face but I remember someone in one of those cloaks coming up to me, asking me to release his Aura," Qrow says.

"You did it without seeing this man's face?" Ozpin asks, his grey eyebrows furrowing.

"Yeah. He seemed to be hurt by the way he was clutching his stomach," Qrow says. He would have never forgiven himself if he had let the person die.

"Do you perchance remember the color of the Aura?" Ozpin presses.

"Silver. But that's not all Oz. After I unlocked his Aura, my memories of that point are hazy. I don't really remember much besides feeling really confused as the man wasn't there anymore but instead a black and purple wispy portal. At first I thought it was Raven but her portals are large and dramatic," Qrow says. Ozpin takes a moment before speaking.

"I see. Hurry back here as soon as possible Qrow. I'll alert Glynda to be on the look out for a silver Aura from our four newest students," Ozpin says. Qrow nods and then disconnects. He sighs. It seemed liked things just had to get worse.

* * *

A/N: Hello! So I have some information for you guys! The pairings will be Zexion x Blake, Luxord x Yang (Sorry to those who thought I was going for Luxord x Weiss), and then by the poll with a whopping 10 to 1, it will be Axel x Pyrrha and Roxas x Ruby!


	5. End of the Day and More Fights!

**~ Team RWBY Dorm ~**

Ruby and Yang were the last two to return to Team RWBY's dorm. Weiss and Blake were each on their respective beds when the sisters had come back in. Ruby and Yang immediately turn their attention to the white haired member, which also garnered Blake's attention to Weiss. Weiss looks at her teammates with an arched white eyebrow.

"What?" Weiss asks.

"What were you doing with Luxord ALONE in our dorm room?" Ruby asks. "You weren't making out with him, were you?!" she asks as she points an accusational finger at Weiss.

"What?! No! Not at all!" Weiss defends. Yang arches a blonde eyebrow at Weiss.

"You sure about that? Not even a little smooch?" Yang grins, teasing Weiss. Weiss looks at Blake.

"Blake! Surely you don't think that of me either?" Weiss says, hoping that at least Blake was on her side.

"Can't say I don't. You were drooling over Luxord in class today and when you met him earlier you were all over him," Blake says nonchalantly. Weiss groans.

"I did not make out with him, though I don't know where you could have gotten that idea from. As for kissing him? A girl can hope!" Weiss huffs, trying to fight down the blush that was wanting to appear on her pale cheeks. Yang smirks even more upon seeing the faintest hint of pink.

"Oh you totally kissed him! And don't even try to deny it!" Yang says, cackling. Ruby just stares at Weiss.

"YOU KISSED HIM?!" Ruby screeched. Blake winced when Ruby had done that and fortunately none of her teammates noticed that.

"Ok fine! I kissed him! Happy now?" Weiss scowled, the blush forming completely on her cheeks.

"I'm actually surprised you did. The Ice Queen actually being romantic towards someone," Blake comments.

"Alright, spill. How did it happen?" Yang asks, fists on her hips. Ruby had her arms crossed over her chest and Blake just stared at Weiss.

"After you guys went off in your different directions, Luxord came to our door and I answered. He wanted to ask me some questions about well, me and the Schnee Dusts Company. He also asked about Dust since he wanted to become more familiar with it," Weiss started off. "And because he IS a gentleman, unlike most guys here, Luxord offered to repay me in a way I saw fit. So I asked him for a kiss. I was expecting a kiss on the cheek but instead it was on the lips."

"Is he a good kisser?" Yang inquires, curiosity in her lilac eyes.

"Why do you want to know that?!" Ruby asks, slightly grossed out by Yang's question.

"Oh c'mon Rubes. You're telling me you've never wondered what a guy kisses like?" Yang asks.

"No! I have never!" Ruby huffs. "I have no interest in knowing!" she declares, causing all three of her teammates to chuckle softly.

"If you MUST know about Luxord's kissing... He's a fantastic kisser," Weiss says. She then turns her icy blue eyes from Yang to Blake. "Now where were you Blake? As I know you didn't go off with these two."

"I was in the library and I stumbled upon Zexion in my usual spot," Blake says with a shrug.

"Ooooo two bookworms away in a hideyhole!" Yang teases.

"Unlike Weiss, I didn't kiss Zexion. We just spoke. He was asking me about Vale and Beacon and the likes. I asked him some questions about his life in Vacuo and a bit about his team," Blake says, rolling her amber eyes.

"Awww, that's no fun. Of course the bookworms would just have an intellectual conversation," Yang pouted.

"Anyways, don't you think we should be getting sleep? We have classes tomorrow. Besides, we get to see Roxas and Luxord fight in combat class," Weiss points out. And with that, Team RWBY got ready for bed and were all asleep soon enough.

 **~ Team RAZL Dorm, Same time as Team RWBY ~**

When Axel and Roxas had returned to their dorm, neither were surprised to see both Zexion and Luxord waiting for them, sitting at a small makeshift meeting table made from their desks. It would have to do since they didn't have the nice thrones in the Round Room. It was time for their daily report. Axel and Roxas take the two open seats and Zexion started off the meeting.

"So, I'll start off the meeting. For any information on this world that we may need to blend in, I found that Blake Belladonna is quite useful. She can also give us more insight on the whole Faunus ordeal as I have discovered that she is indeed a cat-Faunus," Zexion starts, his lecture mode activating. He explains the various bits and pieces that Blake had given him that afternoon.

"That would explain why I thought her bow was moving..." Roxas mutters.

"I also grabbed some textbooks about this world should you choose to peruse them. They should also help with our history homework," Zexion points out.

"Speaking of gathering intel on this world... I was able to find out more about Dust through one Miss Weiss Schnee," Luxord adds.

"Really? What more did you learn?" Zexion asks, his aqua eyes peering at Luxord. The platinum blonde Nobody elaborates on what Weiss had told him about Dust and the Schnee Dusts Company. Weiss had even spilled some details about experiments accidentally. Apparently Zexion had missed a few types of Dust.

"So if she's the daughter of a big Dust company.. How did you convince her to tell you about her father's company and his experiments?" Axel asks.

"Well, she fancies me so I think she just wanted to impress me. Of course, I rewarded her with a kiss. Keep the rewards coming and more information will be supplied," Luxord smirks. Axel just cackles while Zexion and Roxas just shake their heads.

"What about you two? What have you discovered?" Zexion asks, looking at the spiky blonde and spiky redhead.

"We went to Vale and explored. As you can tell, we found a clothing store," Roxas says. "And before you ask, our munny has been turned into Lien."

"That's convenient," Luxord comments. "Anything else?"

"Well, we discovered a Dust shop and a weapons shop. You two should definitely stop by and get a firearm since you have a Lexicon and cards for weapons," Axel comments, a slight teasing tone to his voice. This caused Roxas to snicker as both Luxord and Zexion rolled their eyes at the teasing comment.

"Anyways, I think that's all worth noting. We should get to sleep since Roxas and Luxord have to fight tomorrow," Zexion comments. The four Nobodies nod and they get ready for sleep so they were prepared for continuing the missions.

 **~ The Next Day ~**

It was finally combat class. Team RAZL filed in, taking seats near Teams RWBY and JNPR. The Nobodies had figured that they might as well "befriend" these two teams so that they had some allies in this world. But they all knew not to get too involved in this world and its denizens as they wanted to be able to leave Remnant with ease when they finally finished their mission. Little were they aware, Glynda was watching them more closely than she already had been. Glynda had been informed early that morning about Qrow's revelations. She starts up the selection program. The fight would be between Roxas and Nora.

"Miss Valkyrie and Mr Lichtenberg, please go get ready. You have five minutes," Glynda says. Roxas and Nora head to the locker room, Roxas mentally sweat dropping at the prospect of having to fight the energetic hammer wielder. When Roxas got to the locker room, he summoned his Keyblade, expecting his Sign of Innocence Keyblade... Only to find two Keyblades in his hands - Oblivion and Oathkeeper. Shaking his head, he dons on his Organization cloak and hurriedly heads back to the class room. Seeing Nora had claimed one side, Roxas took the other. In his left was Oathkeeper and in his right was Oblivion.

"Two? Since when has Roxas had two Keyblades?" Zexion frowns.

"He didn't have two before we started this mission..." Axel comments.

"Whoaa.. those are such cool looking swords!" Ruby squealed from nearby. "They're shaped like keys!"

"Remember, tournament rules! Proceed when ready!" Glynda says. Immediately, Roxas darts forward, hoping to catch Nora off-balance with his sudden offensive approach. Nora was surprised but she just cackles before running towards Roxas gleefully, raising her hammer up. When she brings Magnhild down on Roxas, the flat face connects with the X that Roxas had formed with his Keyblades. The sheer amount of force that Nora had packed into her swing caused her to be sent backwards and Roxas to slide back. Roxas recovered first and he dashes to Nora, slashing her backside with both Keyblades. Nora stumbled from the impact and quickly whirled around to block Roxas's flurry of attacks. Seeing a chance, Nora leaps back and swings her hammer right into Roxas's stomach.

Roxas grunted as he was launched backwards. He landed on his back and saw a leaping Nora ready to slam down onto him. The Key of Light quickly rolled out of the way, narrowly missing a hammer to his face. Using a Thundaga, he whips Oathkeeper at Nora, electrocuting her. However, this backfired on him as the spiky blonde instantly noticed that Nora had an even larger grin on his face. 'Shit,' he thought to himself, scrambling to his feet.

"Thanks for the boost Roxas! Time to break your legs!" Nora cackles. She swings her hammer at Roxas once more. Roxas barely had time to block it but it sent him backwards again. He backs up to get more space and to quickly make a plan. As he glanced at the Aura levels, he noticed that he was in the yellow while Nora was in the green-yellow. As he looked back to Nora, Roxas had to dodge roll out of harms way since apparently Magnhild was now in grenade launcher form. Scowling, Roxas runs towards Nora, avoiding grenades or deflecting them. As Roxas got in melee range, Nora shifted Magnhild back to hammer form and swung. Roxas, having anticipated this, hooks Oblivion under Magnhild and twirls to the left, disarming Nora.

Nora gets whacked in the face with Oathkeeper, causing her stumble conveniently towards Magnhild. She runs for Magnhild, not wanting to be near Roxas's intense combo. Just as she grabbed her trusty hammer, Nora noticed Roxas seemed to be.. floating and had a royal yellow Aura glowing around him.

"Oh shit..." Nora mutters, recognizing that Roxas had activated his Semblance. Roxas had took the chance of Nora running for her weapon to activate his Semblance. He had expected it to be something similar to his Limit Break Event Horizon, but instead had something called Magic Hour. Once Nora had turned to face him, he claps his Keyblades together, and all hell breaks loose as streaks of light rain down on Nora. When the Limit Break/Semblance had finished, Roxas lands and looks at Nora and the Aura levels. He smirked lightly seeing that Nora was on the verge of the red. Nora, determined to not lose and some how make a recovery from the assault, charges Roxas, swinging the hammer towards him. Roxas simply blocks the swing before countering with a double cross cut to Nora's front, knocking her into the red.

"Mr. Lichtenberg is the winner! Impressive Semblance Mr Lichtenberg. I can see why Headmistress Blaze made you the leader of your team. Miss Valkyrie, you did well for attempting to make a comeback, but in reality you should fall back," Glynda says. Roxas and Nora nod as they head off stage. Just as the Randomizer chose Luxord's opponent, Ruby, Shadows had started to appear all over the classroom.


	6. Heartless!

Everyone, except Team RAZL, were in shock of seeing the shadowy Grimm-like creatures. Roxas immediately launched himself at the nearby Shadows before they could hurt Nora. AZL also jump into action, their weapons in hand. All three of them had taken the chance while everyone was focused on the Heartless to summon their weapons before joining in the fray. Nora and Ruby were the first to snap out of it - Nora starts helping Team RAZL, but making sure to be super careful while Ruby had used her semblance to go grab her weapon out of her locker. The small team leader soon joins the five fighting and that's when Glynda herself snapped out of it. She commands the remaining students to get their weapons and make sure to take out any they find. This was not good. Some students came back to the combat room - primarily the rest of Team RWBY and Team JNPR. The Shadows weren't really disappearing but they weren't able to reappear fast enough to overwhelm the three teams and Huntress. However, some new Heartless appeared and they took the shape of a Grimm. They were that soulless black and was in the shape of a large hyena. The usual bone mask of the Grimm was on their faces and the Heartless emblem on their chests. Blood red smoke tendrils were coming off the joints of the legs. The tail was made of the same blood red smoke.

"What the hell is that thing? That's not like any Grimm I've seen! And they popped up like these weird things!" Yang exclaims as she punches the Shadows that leapt at her. Zexion took note at how the Emblem Heartless were taking forms similar of that to the Grimm.

"I got them," Roxas says, running towards the hyena Heartless. He jumps and slashes at them, all of the hyenas focusing on him and his Keyblades.

"Mr. Lichtenberg! Don't do that alone!" Glynda says, about to start helping Roxas.

"Ah, don't worry about Roxas too much! This is exactly why he's the Team Leader!" Axel says, chucking a chakram at some Shadows, setting them on fire as he did so. Glynda glances over and sees that Axel was quite right. The boy in question was handling the bizarre Grimm with ease. She would have to report this to Ozpin afterwards. Roxas easily slashes through the Heartless, blocking here and there when necessary. An occasional thundaga or blizzaga was cast to help keep some of the Heartless from reaching him. Each time Roxas defeated one of the hyena based Heartless, a Heart floated up from where the Heartless once stood. This shocked Teams RWBY and JNPR, along with Glynda. Soon enough, all of the Heartless were gone and Glynda immediately turns her sharp gaze onto Team RAZL.

"Explain. You must know what those things were," Glynda immediately demanded.

"We're not entirely sure ourselves but we discovered them in Vacuo as well. We've taken to calling them Heartless. None of them have Hearts of their own. We think they're a special type of Grimm," Luxord answers smoothly.

"Why did the ones we fought not have those emblems on them?" Pyrrha asks, tilting her head.

"All we can tell is that the ones that don't have emblems cannot capture Hearts like the ones with the emblems," Zexion explains.

"Weird. But how come Roxas was the one who was left to them? Is it cause of his weapons?" Ruby asks.

"Yeah. For some reason, my Keyblades seem to be the only things that release those captured Hearts," Roxas says. "And no, I did not make them. They were passed down to me as some sort of mystical weapon. At least that's what my dad told me."

"Maybe it has to do with your Semblance?" Ren suggests.

"What are you getting at there?" Axel asks, arching an eyebrow.

"Well, Roxas's Semblance is definitely light based. And the Grimm and these special Grimm are beings of darkness so maybe it's actually his Semblance and not his weapons," Ren says.

"Hmm, that would make sense. No one else has a light based Semblance," Zexion says. Obviously Team RAZL knew why only Roxas should be the ones to destroy the Emblem Heartless, but they couldn't tell the people of Remnant that reason as it would blow their cover.

"Well, all of you can leave. Your fight against Miss Rose will have to wait til tomorrow as I have to go report to Headmaster Ozpin about this. If you run into any of the others, tell them that class is dismissed," Glynda says before walking out of the room, straight to the elevator to speak with Ozpin about what just happened. And to report her findings on the new students as she noticed that Axel was the only one who couldn't possibly have had his weapon so quickly. She gets into the elevator and waits as it goes up to Ozpin's office. She exits and enters Ozpin's office without notice.

"Glynda. Don't you have class right now?" Ozpin asks, turning around. He takes a sip from his hot chocolate.

"I did, but I dismissed them early as there was a situation," Glynda says.

"Go on," Ozpin says, his brown eyes hardening.

"Some of those odd Grimm-like creatures appeared as a fight just finished. Most of them were these shadowy ant-shaped blobs. They were easy enough to dispatch, given that you didn't let them get behind you. Then there creatures that I thought were a hyena Grimm but they had an odd symbol on their chests. Mr. Lichtenberg took care of them alone. And that's where it gets even weirder. When Mr. Lichtenberg took care of these odd creatures with the symbol, hearts were released from them," Glynda reports.

"They just appeared? How odd... I've never heard of a Grimm being able to do that. I assume you got answers about these creatures from Team RAZL since they were most likely the calmest about it if Mr. Lichtenberg handled the ones with the symbol?" Oz says. Glynda nods.

"Yes, I questioned them. They said they didn't know much but that they had encountered these special Grimm in Vacuo. They called them Heartless. They don't have their own hearts but the ones with the symbol can absorb hearts. Apparently Mr. Lichtenberg is the only one who can release those hearts. They thought it was with his key shaped swords. However, Mr. Ren proposed the theory that it was Mr. Lichtenberg's light based Semblance," the Deputy Headmistress says.

"Heartless huh? Interesting name... We really need to keep an eye on Team RAZL. Was there anything else out of the ordinary that you spotted?" Oz asks.

"Yes. Team RAZL's weapons, more specifically Mr. Brändle's weapons. Mr. Lichtenberg has a reason as he had just finished his fight against Miss Valkyrie moments before the Heartless appeared. Team RAZL all had their weapons and immediately began to fight. Mr. Fortunae and Mr. Somnium can easily have had their weapons - a deck of cards and a Lexicon respectively. But Mr. Brändle, his weapons would not be conventional to carry around and should have been in his locker. They were large spiked chakrams," Glynda says.

"Maybe his Semblance is summoning them?" Ozpin offers. Glynda shakes her head.

"No. His Semblance was this large fiery explosion. So if he did indeed summon them, then he has some explaining to do," Glynda frowns.

"As much as I would like to question Team RAZL, we need more evidence. Did anyone have a silver Aura?"

"No. Not that I've seen yet. Only Mr. Brändle and Mr. Lichtenberg have activated their Semblances, red and yellow respectively. Mr. Somnium did not activate his in his fight and Mr. Fortunae has yet to have a fight against a student. None of them activated their Semblance during the fight against the Heartless."

"Keep watching them. Hopefully Qrow can get back to us soon and help watch them when they are not on campus or under your supervision," Oz says, sitting down. "Do you think they are on Salem's side?" he asks after a moment.

"No, I don't think so. But there's definitely something off about them. They felt eerily similar to these Heartless. I'll keep watching for more suspicious things about them," Glynda says. Ozpin nods in agreement.

 **~ With Teams RAZL, RWBY and JNPR ~**

Ruby had stars in her eyes looking at Roxas. She thought it was so cool how he easily he took out the special Grimm all on her own. She was doing everything in her power to not latch onto the spiky blonde's arm and gush over him. She was falling fast and hard for him. Ruby was about to bombard Team RAZL with questions after Glynda had left but Blake had beaten her to it.

"You use cards to fight Luxord?" Blake asks, arching a black eyebrow.

"I do. It makes for an interesting weapon, doesn't it?" Luxord says, smirking. He fans his cards out in hands, the grey backing with the Nobody emblem facing the other hunters and huntresses in training.

"Weren't they bigger during the fight though?" Pyrrha asks, tilting her head.

"Ah, yes, they were. It's due to my Semblance. By using it partially, I can make the cards large and actually useful in a fight. Similar to Miss Nikos," Luxord smiles. Pyrrha's emerald eyes widen.

"You know my Semblance?" Pyrrha asks, surprised.

"It's not too hard to figure out if you watch carefully, love," the platinum blonde answers. His cards go back to stack form and he slides them into his pocket.

"Yeah, like Luxord said. It's pretty easy. But also quite the fascinating Semblance for a fascinating woman," Axel smirks. Pyrrha blushed a bit at Axel's smirk.

"You wouldn't stand a chance against her Axel. Not with your weapon," Roxas comments.

"Like you could either! Luxord and Zexion got the upper hand there," Axel huffed.

"Either way! That was soooo cool seeing you fight all of those strange Grimm!" Ruby finally gets out. Roxas just rubs the back of his neck sheepishly.

"I guess? It wasn't that hard or impressive..." Roxas trails off.

"Wrong! It was super impressive! You were surrounded but you just slashed through them with your keys as if they were clouds!" Ruby gushes. Roxas felt his face heat up a bit which only darkened upon seeing Axel wiggle his eyebrows.

"Ruby's right! And after fighting Nora as well! And she did a number on you!" Yang pipes in.

"Our leader everyone - the talented and far too humble Roxas!" Axel says, gesturing to Roxas with one arm stretched out and bowing.

"Axel!" Roxas says, pushing his best friend playfully. Axel and the others laugh.

"I don't know about you guys, but I don't exactly feel like staying in this room for too much longer," Weiss says.

"Mmm, I could go for some ice cream.." Roxas hums.

"Good idea Roxas! How about we all go get some ice cream?" Axel grins.

"Ooo! Can we go to the clock tower again like we did yesterday?" Ruby asks.

"Oh yes! That would be a wonderful idea! We could get ice cream and learn more about each other!" Pyrrha says, clapping her hands together.

"Sounds like a plan then. Luxord and I will meet up with you at the ice cream shop. We need some new clothes," Zexion says. He turns and walks out, Luxord following him.

"Rest of us change and meet at the statue?" Yang suggests. Everyone nods and heads to their dorms to change and meet up.


	7. Qrow's In Town

Later that evening while Teams RWBY, JNPR and RAZL were out having ice cream, Qrow appears on Beacon's school grounds. A flask is drawn from his hip and he takes a long sip of whiskey before continuing his way into Beacon. He walks through the pretty empty halls and gets to the elevator that would lead him to Ozpin's office. His Scroll allows him instant access to Ozpin's office and he gets into the elevator. Upon exiting the elevator, Qrow sees Ozpin and Glynda in person and another man that's in a military uniform in the room via call.

"I'm surprised to see you here Jimmy! Thought you would have been too busy off playing soldier!" the slightly drunk Qrow says.

"Qrow, please stop calling me Jimmy... You know it's James," Jimmy, or really James, says. Qrow snorts.

"I could. But where's the fun in that?" Qrow drawls. Before an argument could sprawl out, Ozpin clears his throat.

"Since you're now here Qrow, we can now begin the meeting. We have some... urgent information," Ozpin says.

"James, you said your men finished searching the databases?" Glynda asks. James's image nods in affirmation.

"Yes. Those four do not have any birth records anywhere on Remnant. If they are truly from Remnant, they must be from one of those villages far away from the Kingdoms," James says.

"Or there's another tribe like Raven's..." Qrow mutters. He pauses before speaking. "What else do we know?"

"Team RAZL knows how to deal with the Grimm-like creatures and they have a name for them - Heartless. A group of them materialized within my classroom shortly after Mr. Lichtenberg's and Miss Valkyrie's fight," Glynda starts.

"Wait, they MATERIALIZED? Grimm can't do that!" James interrupts.

"One of the many reasons they have been given the name of Heartless," Ozpin says.

"I believe Glynda was in the middle of explaining when you interrupted her Jimmy," Qrow frowns. James at least looked sheepish for interrupting.

"Yes. They materialized. Team RAZL immediately leapt into action. As I told Ozpin, three out of the four members having their weapons on them is plausible - Mr. Lichtenberg as he had his key shaped swords already, Mr. Fortunae has a deck of cards and Mr. Somnium has a Lexicon. Mr. Brändle on the other hand should not have had his weapon right away - large spiked chakrams," Glynda explains.

"Lemme guess... Not his Semblance?" Qrow asks. Glynda nods.

"Correct, not his Semblance. His Semblance is a very... explosive one," Glynda says, pushing up her glasses. "And before you ask Qrow, I have not yet seen the silver Aura. Only Mr. Brändle and Mr. Lichtenberg have used their Semblances. The other two have not used theirs. Though since the two who have used their Semblances have Auras that match their hair color, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Mr. Somnium is the one with the silver Aura."

"I don't suppose you remember the man's face?" James asks, having been informed about Qrow's report from some time ago.

"No. If I did, we wouldn't be in this mess," Qrow sneers. He grabs his flask again and takes a swig.

"Well, now that you're here Qrow, you can help keep an eye on them. However, any reports on Salem?" Ozpin says.

"All I know is that the people who attacked Amber were involved in that Dust robbery Ruby was at," Qrow says. "No mention of people in black cloaks so we can assume that they are not aligned with Salem."

"Well that's a relief. But unless they're on our side, we've got an unknown third party to deal with," James frowns.

"Do you think we have enough information on them to corner them into revealing who they really are?" Glynda asks. Ozpin shakes his head.

"No. We need more information. Mr. Brändle's weapons, the lack of information and with Mr. Lichtenberg being the only one to be able to destroy the Heartless that look a lot like Grimm is not quite enough," Ozpin says.

"Wait, what do you mean Mr. Lichtenberg was the only one to destroy those peculiar Heartless?" James asks, his frown deepening.

"Ah, yes we didn't mention that to you yet. Mr. Lichtenberg has a light based Semblance. He was the only one who could destroy these Heartless and release the Hearts they apparently stole," Oz adds in.

"Now we gotta worry about creatures that steal Hearts? Awesome," Qrow says, the sarcasm oozing through his voice. "But what do you want me to do to help out here Oz?"

"Security mainly. Maybe help Glynda with her some of her classes? Maybe with a particular class?" Oz suggests.

"Yes. The more eyes on Team RAZL, the better. Also, I think your nieces have befriended Team RAZL so they could help indirectly," Glynda says. Qrow frowns.

"I don't like the idea of involving my nieces in this, indirectly or not, but if they're already friends, then I guess we have no choice," Qrow sighs.

"It'll be fine Qrow. It'll be eight on four if they end up being against us," Oz says reassuringly. The drunkard only sighs in resignation.

"Fine," Qrow grumbles, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Before I go, it sounds like there are two different types of these... Heartless?" James asks. Glynda looks at him.

"Yes. There are some that are just pure black with eerie yellow eyes. They don't release Hearts so anyone can destroy them. The ones that release Hearts have a peculiar emblem on their chests. These are the ones that look more like Grimm," Glynda says.

"Alright. I'll be taking my leave then," James says before signing off.

"Well, since we're done here, I'm going to go embarrass my nieces," Qrow says before turning and leaving the Headmaster and Deputy Headmistress.

When Qrow finally finds his nieces, he notices that they were on a clock tower with ten other students eating ice cream. He noticed that Ruby happened to be sitting next to the one named Roxas, and rather closely at that while Yang seemed to be flirting with Luxord shamelessly which seemed to irk the white haired chick, who he thought could be a Schnee. He lands and morphs before approaching the teenagers.

"Well squirt, never thought I'd see you that close to a boy and in such a hidey-hole," Qrow says once in view. Ruby squealed in surprise. She flailed a bit and if it weren't for Roxas, she probably would have fallen off.

"UNCLE QROW!" Ruby shouted, her face flaring up a bright red. Yang laughs.

"He got you there sis!" Yang smirks.

"I'm just surprised you're not trying to make out with him," Qrow comments to Yang as he gestures to Luxord. Yang just huffed in response.

"Just cause I'm a big flirt doesn't mean I kiss people on the first session unlike a certain Weiss Queen!" Yang says.

"Yang!" Weiss shrieks indignantly, swatting the busty blonde's shoulder. This causes both Qrow and Luxord to laugh.

"What can I say? I'm a hit with the ladies," Luxord chuckles.

"Uncle Qrow, did you just come here to embarrass us?" Ruby pouted. Qrow chuckles.

"Not just that. Also figured I'd meet your friends and teammates," Qrow says. This had Ruby basically pull a 180 from her current mood and she introduces everyone to her uncle. Zexion remembered Qrow being the Hunter that he asked to unlock his Aura. He made a mental note to tell the others later. It would not do well to have his team mates be lacking the information of who to look out for. He also realized that people were starting to get onto them. He had been hoping for a longer time without discovery.

"So what are you doing in Vale, Uncle Qrow?" Yang asks.

"Well I just finished a mission for Oz. However, I'm going to be sticking around for a while. Even though I normally teach at Signal, Oz has asked me to help oversee the combat classes," Qrow answers. Ruby squeals and hugs Qrow.

"Awesome!" Ruby says, stars in her eyes. Pyrrha can't help but awe at the adorableness.

"So, we get a drunk old man to help out with combat class, eh?" Axel asks, smirking.

"Hey, I'm not that old," Qrow shoots at Axel. "Drunk, however, yes."

"When aren't you drunk Uncle Qrow?" Ruby says.

"Uuuuhhh.. Never," Qrow says. Weiss can't help but wrinkle her nose in distaste. 'That's a Schnee alright..' was Qrow's thought.

"Ah, you'll get to see the match between me and Ruby tomorrow. I do hope it'll be a good show for you," Luxord says smoothly.

"You're on Luxord! I won't let Uncle Qrow down!" Ruby says, determined. Normally, she didn't like performing in front of people like in a spar, but she had been getting better about it. She also wanted to show that she could do this!

"I'm gonna root for Ruby. I hope she kicks your butt Luxord," Roxas says to the Gambler of Fate. This causes him to smirk and Ruby to blush a bit.

"Well baby sis, since you got Roxas to support you, I'm going to root for Luxord just to spite you," Yang smirks. She winks at Luxord who chuckles but winks right back.

"YANG! YOU'RE BETRAYING ME FOR A BOY?! HOW COULD YOU?!" Ruby says, putting a hand to her chest. She was being playful.

"What can I say? He's got an awesome accent, he's handsome and has cards for a weapon. Sexy and Mysterious," Yang smirks.

"Don't go inflating his ego Yang. He's already got a big head," Axel says.

"Says the man who's all about people remembering him," Luxord shoots back. Zexion simply sighs.

"This normal?" Qrow asks Zexion.

"Sadly," Zexion remarks.

"Well, kiddos don't stay up too late. I'm going to head back to Beacon," Qrow says. Ruby hugs him once more and Yang fistbumps Qrow before the veteran Hunter took off. Qrow had noticed that if someone wasn't paying attention, they wouldn't notice that Team RAZL wasn't quite.. normal. He could feel the Grimm like vibe but it was different. Did he like that Roxas and Luxord were close to his nieces? Not at all. However, he had a feeling that if Roxas and Luxord trusted his nieces enough, that would make the two slip and they could get more information on this oddball group of supposed Hunters in Training.


	8. Cards & Scythes

There was an air of tension in the combat class. Everyone was anticipating the match between Ruby and Luxord, curious if Luxord would also be a powerhouse like the rest of his team. There was also some nerves to some students upon seeing Qrow in the corner. Team RAZL was a little on edge upon seeing that Qrow was indeed going to be helping out. They were on edge as Zexion had informed them that Qrow was the Hunter that had unlocked his Aura for him. Zexion had warned Luxord to try to not use his Semblance, just in case Qrow knew something. Glynda walks into the classroom as the bell rings. Any and all talking immediately stopped, making the classroom seem very dead for the moment.

"For those of you who don't know, we will have another teacher in the class. This is Qrow Branwen. He has taught at Signal and is a professional Huntsman. After the battle between Miss Rose and Mr. Fortunae, we will return to our normal schedule. There could be times where you may be asked to fight against Mr. Branwen. You'll be doing this as a team so do not fret too much if you are up against him," Glynda announces. "Now, Miss Rose and Mr. Fortunae, please get ready for your fight. You have five minutes."

Luxord and Ruby head to the locker room to quickly change into their fighting gear and for Ruby to grab Crescent Rose. Luxord was the first back and he walks over to his seat to "grab" his deck of cards. When Ruby had returned, Luxord was simply shuffling his deck of cards on one side of the stage. Ruby takes a deep breath and steels herself before getting on stage, Crescent Rose in its completely expanded form. Luxord's eyebrows shoot up at seeing such a small girl wield such a large weapon. He glances at Qrow, who was smirking.

"Go get him squirt," Qrow says, encouraging Ruby. Ruby just beams at Qrow.

"And begin!" Glynda says, Luxord's and Ruby's profile appearing on the screen above them.

Ruby starts the battle right off, not wanting to let Luxord get a chance. Using her Semblance to shoot over to Luxord, she swings her scythe right at Luxord's torso. The blonde man barely had enough time to enlarge a card to block the hit. He hops back and the card comes back to him, shrunk. Ruby continues her onslaught, determined to not allow Luxord a single chance to attack. Luxord had to keep either blocking or dodging. He throws up five cards and as they start to become enlarged, they swirl around him in a circle, acting as a barrier. Ruby frowns and switches Crescent Rose to the sniper form. She takes aim and waits for the perfect time.

Luxord was relieved when Ruby finally backed off. However, he knew he couldn't stay in his little fortress as he would just be a sitting duck. He sees Ruby waiting for a spot to open up as there were gaps between his cards that circled him. The Gambler of Fate smirks and takes that chance to use a silent fira and hit Ruby. Afterwards, the cards shrunk and return to his hands. Luxord then starts closing in on Ruby who was recovering from the fira attack. Once in range, Luxord starts a sweeping combo with his cards, buffeting Ruby side to side, landing the first actual hits.

Ruby wondered what the hell Luxord's cards were made of as she got hit by them and getting caught in the combo from Luxord. She raises up Crescent Rose and hooks it under Luxord's arm at the end of his combo. Using the momentum she built up, Ruby whirls Luxord off to the side with a grunt, hoping to toss him out of the arena. Luxord had been caught by surprise but managed to land from his sudden flight. He smirks, liking the challenge that Ruby was providing him. He charges Ruby the same time she charges him. Despite the heavier weapon, Ruby reached Luxord quicker, her Semblance giving her a boost. Scythe hits cards, causing a lock between the two. Crescent Rose's shaft that was right behind the blade was caught in an X of cards. Luxord was leaning back as he had narrowly avoided getting hit with the blade. There was a visible struggle between the two as Ruby tried to free Crescent Rose while Luxord was trying to force Crescent Rose away from him. He was not able to summon another card due to the precarious position.

A light bulb goes off in Ruby's head as she notices the position that she was in. Adjusting Crescent Rose just enough and hopping backwards, Ruby pulls the trigger, hitting Luxord point blank in the chest with a sniper bullet. Luxord grunts as he sent backwards with the force of a sniper bullet to the chest. Despite having Aura, that had still hurt and he quickly glances at his Aura level. He was now in the yellow while Ruby was still in the green-yellow. He knew Zexion told him to not use his Semblance if possible but with all these damn bullets coming at him, he thought it was only fair that he returned fire with his own Jackpot.

"Let's even up the deck!" Luxord says, activating his final form of Jackpot. His body floods with a purple-grey colored Aura as two cards are in front of him. Ruby scowled lightly as she notices that her bullets could not pierce through the cards while Luxord's Semblance was activated. A smirk appears on Luxord's lips when he gets two large red symbols and his cards turn into large energy blasts, hitting Ruby. He noticed that his Jackpot was different in that he had to use his cards to actually cause the blast instead of the blasts just coming from his cards. He shrugs it off and continues his assault. He also noticed that he was only allowed five with the two large red symbols. Luxord smirks when seeing Ruby in the orange.

Ruby was determined to make this a tie at the least since it seems she wouldn't be able to overpower Luxord. Getting off the ground as the last one had knocked her off her feet, Ruby charges Luxord again and she sweeps Crescent Rose low, hooking one of Luxord's legs. Upon feeling Crescent Rose hooking around one of Luxord's legs, Ruby yanks hard and Luxord falls on his ass with a solid THUD. Ruby then spins out of the yank and sends Luxord sprawling by hitting him with the back of Crescent Rose.

"You got this squirt!" Qrow calls out, seeing how close the battle was. He blinks hearing Roxas call out to Ruby to encourage her and then Yang yelling for Luxord to kick Ruby's butt. He didn't think that they would have actually done that. However, the desired affects of the cheers were apparent as both Luxord and Ruby smirked, both ready to end the battle. Both were in the orange, and deciding that this was now just a matter of exchanging blows, Ruby and Luxord charge once more, slicing and sweeping at one another, blocking when possible and necessary. The match finally came to an end as Ruby strikes Luxord diagonally down, right to left, with the blade of Crescent Rose and Luxord striking Ruby with a spinning attack to her right side.

"Match end! There is no clear winner. It would appear that both Miss Rose and Mr. Fortunae are on equal standing," Glynda says, calling the fight to an end. Luxord and Ruby smile at each other, both panting heavily.

"Good show Ruby. It's an honor to fight someone as talented as you," Luxord compliments, offering a hand. Ruby shakes it.

"You too Luxord!" Ruby says, smiling. She blushes a bit from the compliment but heads off stage and out of the classroom with Luxord to go to the infirmary to get patched up since they both were in the red for their Aura.

"Oh I am so teasing Ruby later for this," Yang says, watching Ruby chat with Luxord as they left the room together.

"Tease her about what? Leaving a room with a boy alone?" Weiss asks, arching a white eyebrow.

"Nope. For cheating on Roxas," Yang smirks.

"Of course," Blake says, rolling her eyes. RAZ had been sitting near WBY during the fight and easily overheard Yang talking about teasing Ruby. Roxas couldn't help but feel jealous. Well, what he would imagine would be jealousy. He would have to ask Axel later what jealousy felt like. By the time Ruby and Luxord had returned, another fight was happening on stage. At the end of the class, Glynda stands on stage.

"Students! Before you go, remember that next week is the Vytal Tournament. Speak to me if you wish to register your team for the tournament. Also, students from the other schools will be coming in two days for the tournament, so be on your best behavior!" Glynda says before dismissing the class. Team RAZL did not like the sound of the Vytal Tournament but had a feeling that they should compete and just hope that none of their.. friends.. asked questions about Vacuo teams. Since it was the end of the day, Team RAZL decided that recon was necessary and split up. Zexion went to the library as per usual and couldn't help but smirk when seeing that his little recon kitty was joining him. Luxord decided see what other information he could get out of Weiss since he knew that the Heiress was still heads over heels for him. Axel and Roxas head out to town to try to glean information out of the locals. Qrow decided that he would follow Zexion since that was the only Aura that hadn't been seen out of Team RAZL. He turns into his crow form and follows Zexion and Blake to the library. He perches on top of book case that was near Blake and Zexion and he eavesdrops on them.

"So we've seen all of your teammate's Semblances, except for yours. What's your Semblance?" Blake asks, looking curious at Zexion.

"Well my dear Blake, that's a secret. But, I'd be willing to reveal mine if you tell me yours and Weiss's," Zexion says. Blake thinks about it.

"Deal. Weiss is glyphs. It's a Schnee inherited Semblance. It's very versatile. I have shadow-clones. I can give them Dust aspects if I so desire," Blake says. Zexion files that information later and quickly sends a message to Luxord to have him ask Weiss about her Semblance for more details.

"Interesting. These shadow-clones suit your ninja-like style," Zexion comments, his tone amused.

"Yeah, Ruby and Nora like calling me a ninja," Blake chuckles.

"And now to repay the favor. My Semblance is basically a huge meteor storm. I call it Meteor Mirage. I did not think it would be wise to use in combat class," Zexion says.

"You could probably use it in the tournament. Are you guys going to sign up for it?" Blake asks.

"Most likely. Axel wouldn't let Roxas hear the end of it if Roxas doesn't sign us up for it," Zexion says. "Assuming that your team makes it through the first round, who do you think would be the duo?"

"Most likely Yang and Weiss. What about you?"

"Axel for certain and probably Roxas. Though I would imagine that Axel would be the solo man."

"You can bet that if Yang and Weiss make it, Yang's gonna go for the finals. And she's gonna hope to fight Axel again."

"That would be an entertaining fight to see again. But that's assuming that the selection isn't random. But even then, there is still a possibility that Yang could end up fighting Axel via RNG but that would be very slim. And there's also the fact that Axel and Yang could face off in either the team round or duo round as well," Zexion says, starting to ramble off with probabilities. He only stops when he hears Blake giggling.

"I knew you were a book worm, but damn, didn't know you were such a nerd," Blake chuckles, teasing the silver haired Nobody. Zexion rubs the back of his neck sheepishly, allowing color to tint his cheeks.

"Ah, yes, I am quite fond of science and math and tend to go into Lecture Mode, as my team calls it, when I start talking about such a topic," Zexion explains.

"It's actually pretty refreshing and honestly adorable. Your Lecture Mode is far more bearable than Professor Port's and Doctor Oobleck's," Blake comments. Her face was also a light pink as she had admitted that she found Zexion adorable. "But uh, could you continue?" she asks, a tad bashful. Zexion only smiles and continues. Blake curls up and happily listens to Zexion go on about the probabilities of certain match ups during the Vytal Festival.


	9. Guns, Faunus & Icky Jobs

It was a late Saturday afternoon. Axel and Roxas had just woken up, glad to have been able to sleep in. Zexion was sitting at the makeshift meeting table reading a book and Luxord was shuffling his cards. The two sleepyheads join the early risers at the table as they knew today would be a progress check in day. Just as the two sit, a Dark Corridor appears and to no one's surprise, Saïx steps through. The blue haired Nobody looks at the four, his arms behind his back and yellow eyes piercing each of them in turn.

"So, status update so far?" Saïx asks, looking at the gathered Nobodies before him.

"We haven't had too much of a chance to gather Hearts yet. Only a few when they randomly spawned in a class," Roxas reports.

"I think the Headmaster here is onto us. The man who unlocked my Aura is here doing.. security," Zexion answers.

"On the other hand, we've gathered quite a lot of information on this world," Luxord says, handing a stack of papers to Saïx. Number VII takes the papers and briefly glances over the notes that had been provided to him.

"Do you have anything to report Axel?" Saïx asks.

"Nope," Axel says popping the p. "Unless you care to hear about the Vytal Tournament."

"Vytal Tournament?" the blue haired Nobody asks, arching an eyebrow.

"It's a tournament held every two years here on Remnant, location rotates, and Beacon is holding it this year. It involves a bunch of fighting. Would you like us to try to win it or lose it at some point?" Zexion replies.

"Don't actively win or lose it. Just do your best," Saïx answers. As he turns to leave, Zexion stands up and grabs Saïx by the arm.

"Before you go... I think I have found a potential target to turn into a Heartless and Nobody - Cardin Winchester. I put notes in there," Zexion whispers. Saïx nods and after he leaves, Zexion looks at the others. "So, what do you think we should do today?"

"Well, perhaps we can go into town to get us each a firearm? Or at least myself and you Zexion," Luxord says.

"Only issue is that none of us know a damn thing about firearms," Axel frowns.

"We might not know anything but we do know someone who is really into weapons," Roxas says.

"Ruby!" Zexion says. "Excellent idea Roxas! Why don't you go ask Team RWBY to join us?"

"Wh-what? Why me?" Roxas asks, his blue eyes widening.

"Well, you are the team leader as is she, your idea aaaannnd she totally likes you," Axel grins. Roxas groans.

"Ugh fine. I'll go ask her after I get dressed. Might as well ask Team JNPR to join us as well," the spiky blonde says as he gets up to get changed.

"I'll go ask Team JNPR while Roxas takes care of Team RWBY," Axel says. "Continue to gain information while getting close enough to the teams here, and we won't stand out too much."

"Very true Axel. I see why you are put on the, how did you phrase it - the icky jobs?" Luxord asks. Axel makes a face.

"Yeah. The icky jobs," Axel says. Roxas walks back out. He looks at Axel.

"You're just gonna walk out like that?" Roxas asks. Axel was wearing a black tank top and bright red boxers.

"I just need to throw pants and shoes on," Axel says, standing up and walking over to his dresser. Today would be a simple day for him as he just grabs black jeans to put on. Once he was all set, Roxas walks over to Team RWBY's dorm and rings them while Axel rings Team JNPR. Both Nobodies wait for someone on each team to answer the door. Roxas was the first to get an answer and it was none other than the little leader herself.

"Oh! Hi Roxas! What's up?" Ruby asks, blinking at seeing the spiky blonde outside her team's dorm.

"Well, my team was planning to head into Vale. We were thinking that maybe you and some others could help Luxord and Zexion pick proper firearms. Axel's asking Team JNPR," Roxas says. Ruby's eyes widen upon hearing this.

"Oh yes!" Ruby says before looking over her shoulder. "TEAM RWBY! WE ARE GOING INTO VALE WITH TEAM RAZL TO GET THEM PROPER FIREARMS!" She then turns to look at Roxas. "We'll be out in like five minutes!"

"Alright. Meet us by the statue?" Roxas asks.

"You got it!" Ruby beams before closing the door to get ready. Axel had been greeted Jaune who decided that Team JNPR would also join the Vale adventure. After all, it would bring them closer together, right?

Once all three teams were gathered outside by the statue, they get on the first bullhead to Vale. There was a crow that followed them but no one seemed to notice it. Since not everyone needed to get firearms, it was decided that Yang, Ruby, Zexion, Luxord and Roxas would go to the gun shop while everyone else explored Vale. And by explore, of course by exploring Weiss meant scoping out their potential opponents. The five going to the gun shop split from the main group and Ruby happily leads the way to the gun shop that she regularly goes to. She was happy that Roxas was tagging along and ignored the looks Yang was giving her as she led the way. The crow stayed with the larger group.

"So what type of guns were you two looking for?" Ruby asks, turning around to face the two males in question. She was walking backwards.

"Most likely small handguns of some sort. We'd like for them to fit in our coat pockets or easy to pull out from under our coats," Luxord explains.

"Oooh so that's why Zexion has his coat on," Yang says. Her lilac go back to Luxord and she drinks the sight in front of her. Luxord was wearing black jeans, simple black shoes and a maroon dress shirt that had two buttons on the top and bottom unbuttoned. The sleeves were rolled up to his elbow and the usual earrings were worn with the addition of a nice necklace. The platinum blonde catches the golden blonde staring and gives a smirk, winking at Yang. Yang just smirks and winks back, not ashamed at being caught staring at Luxord. Roxas, Zexion and Ruby ignore the obvious flirting between the two.

"Well, here we are!" Ruby says, pushing the door open. The other four follow behind her and a tanned male with salt and pepper hair looks up. "Hi Mr. Forrest!"

"Ah, Miss Rose, Miss Xiao Long. I see you've brought some friends today. How may I help you?" Mr. Forrest smiles. He was pretty muscular and Zexion deduced that the man was most likely a bear Faunus.

"Well two of our friends here, Zexion and Luxord are lookin' to get some firearms! Something small that they can hide under their coats. Zexion has the coat in question," Yang explains. "Also, Rubes is probably going to get her usual order of bullets."

"Yup!" Ruby says, nodding in confirmation. Roxas noticed how Ruby seemed to be at more ease around anything weapon related. He figures that if he wanted to get better ideas on how people fight here, Ruby would have a lot of knowledge on how guns work. The only gun that he and the others had ran into before being here on Remnant were Xigbar's arrowguns. It would help a lot with the upcoming Vytal Tournament, which reminded him that he needed to sign up with Glynda.

With the main group, they all had made their way down to the docks. They found a nice little cafe and decided to situate themselves at the tables outside after getting something to drink. The crow that had yet to be noticed was sitting on the cafe sign, watching the teenagers relax, but its beady little eyes were focused on the spiky haired male. Axel was chatting Pyrrha up, much to Jaune's chagrin. Though that was shortly remedied when Nora all but forced him to sit with Weiss. What could the blonde say? He had girl troubles and he was heads over heels for both his partner and for Weiss. Blake had elected to sit with Ren and Nora. Weiss wasn't paying much attention to Jaune as she was more focused on the incoming students. None of the students were grabbing the seven's attention until one particular monkey Faunus came into view, laughing at the sailors that were chasing him.

"Ugh. Such a disgrace that Faunus is. But no surprise there.. He's just like all the others.." Weiss comments dryly, watching the monkey Faunus run off. Blake clenches her jaws but stays silent. The Nobody looks over and arches a red eyebrow.

"Racist much there Snowflake?" Axel drawls, calling Weiss out. The white haired girl turns her icy glare on the spiky redhead.

"I have my reasons," Weiss scowls.

"That doesn't make your hatred towards them valid," Blake comments lowly.

"What was that?" Weiss asks, looking at her teammate.

"I said, that doesn't validate your hatred," Blake says, glaring at Weiss. "It's humans like you that make everything worse."

"Excuse me? But it's the White Fang that's causing the issue here! They're terrorists!" Weiss exclaims. Blake stands up, her emotions getting the better of her.

"Well maybe if you gave us a fighting chance instead of constantly oppressing us, we wouldn't have had to resort to violence to be heard!" Blake snaps. Everyone, minus Axel, had a look of surprise on their faces. Blake realizes what she had said and her eyes widen in horror. She starts to back away.

"Looks like the cat's out of the bag..." Axel comments, making a casual pun out of the situation. Blake then takes off to go hide.

"Blake! Come back!" Nora calls out to the now outed Faunus. Pyrrha frowns and turns her attention onto Weiss.

"When Ruby and Yang get back and we find Blake, you're going to apologize to her," Pyrrha says, crossing her arms.

"While you do that, I'm going to go find her. I have a knack of finding people who don't want to be found," Axel says. He then runs off in the direction that Blake had ran off to. A few moments later, the crow followed.

"Yeah Weiss. That was really uncalled for. But I'll inform Ruby and Yang of the situation before we go after Blake," Ren says, pulling his Scroll out. He shoots Yang and Ruby a text, knowing they would relay the information to the RZL of Team RAZL.

Once he assumed that he was in the clear, Axel opens a Dark Corridor to a nearby roof to get a good look around, unknowingly losing the crow that had followed him. Number VIII looks around for a black haired beauty. Axel sighs as he runs a hand through his spikes, noting at how once again, he was stuck with the icky job. At least he didn't have to kill Blake. He eventually spots her figure and he starts leaping rooftop to rooftop to follow her. He then noticed the monkey Faunus was near her and he couldn't help but smirk as that was two birds with one stone - find Blake and figure out who the interesting Faunus is. He trails them at a distance, wanting to not get lashed out at by a panicking Blake. He assumed the monkey Faunus was fine since he was a Faunus. Axel couldn't help but laugh when seeing Blake bring the monkey Faunus to the clock tower they were at the other day. Shaking his head, he opens a Dark Corridor to a part near the top but out of sight. He then casually walks out to the front.

"Ya know Blake, if you didn't want to be found, you shouldn't have come here," Axel says. Blake whips around as does the monkey Faunus, both aiming their weapons at the male. Axel noticed that Blake's bow was missing and in its place are her cat ears.

"Oh.. It's just you Axel... Why are you here?" Blake asks, relaxing a bit and lowering her weapon.

"Well, I'm here to find you and bring you back. Clearly you and Weiss have somethings to talk about and settle things out. And who's the monkey boy?" Axel says, leaning against the clock face.

"Oh, this is Sun. He's from Haven Academy. Sun, this is Axel. He and his team transferred from Shade," Blake says. Sun then puts his staff away and grins.

"Got it memorized?" Axel smirks, tapping his temple.

"How could I not? You stand out but nice to meet ya Axel!" Sun says, putting his hand out. Axel takes it and shakes it.

"How did you find me?" Blake asks.

"As I told the others, I have a knack for finding people that don't want to be found. Now, shall I tell people to gather here since it's private or do we need to gather elsewhere?" Axel asks. Blake looks away.

"Right now..?" Blake asks, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Well you kinda sorta made yourself sound like a terrorist... Soooooo yeah right now," Axel says. "I really don't want to bring you back by force but if I have to, I will. So don't make me do that icky job of bring you back by force."

"Alright.. tell them to come here then..." Blake sighs, her ears drooping in defeat. Axel smirks at the cat Faunus and Sun couldn't help but shudder slightly at the smirk and the look in Axel's emerald eyes.

"Now that's a smart and good girl. Well, get comfortable as it's going to be a bit before the others can get here," the redhead says, texting the others where they were. Blake, Axel and Sun then sit on the edge of the clock tower, awaiting the others' arrival. The Nobody was rather satisfied with his job well done, unaware that he just gave away the final piece for a confrontation with Ozpin.


	10. The Cat's Out of the Bag

Axel, Blake and Sun were all sitting on the edge of the clock tower as they awaited for the rest of the three teams to arrive. Axel was laying back so that he was looking directly up at the sky. Blake sat between Axel and Sun, wringing her hands nervously. So many instincts were telling her to flee. It was sitting here, just waiting in silence and alone with Axel that she sensed something different about the most relaxed member of Team RAZL. She wasn't sure what it was but Blake decided to ignore it for now as it was probably just her nerves getting the better of her. She's torn from her thoughts upon feeling a warm hand grasp her hands and she looks over to the source - Sun. He had a comforting smile on his face, hoping to his best to calm his fellow Faunus down some.

"It'll be alright, I promise you that Blake. Besides! You still have me and that Zexion guy!" Sun says, grinning a bit.

"...Zexion did figure it out first..." Blake says, looking down at her hand under Sun's. She was hiding a blush at the thought of Zexion. Axel had looked over and he saw the faintest tint of pink.

"Does our lil kitty have a crush on the emo? How adorable~" Axel teases playfully. This causes Blake's face to start to turn red.

"N-NO!" Blake shouts, trying to stop her face from turning a bright red. Sun snorts at Blake's reaction, grinning widely.

"Oh he got you Blake- You definitely like this Zexion guy!" Sun snickers.

"Sun! Not you too!" Blake whines, her ears flattening against her head a tad. Both males snicker at Blake's misfortune. With the teasing that Sun and Axel threw at her, the time seemed to fly by quickly. The first group to arrive was Ruby, Yang, Luxord, Zexion and Roxas. Blake figures it would be easier to explain if she was standing up and people sitting around her. Zexion stands up and leans against the wall next to Blake, Yang and Ruby on the other side. Roxas and Axel sit on the platform but not on the edge. Luxord stands next to Zexion. Sun stayed on the ledge, turning his head to look at Blake. Eventually Weiss and Team JNPR arrive. Team JNPR carefully sits themselves in a similar manner to Roxas and Axel, Weiss just standing carefully.

"Well! Everyone's here and it's time to let the cat completely out of the bag!" Yang says, garnering a few groans and snickers from her terrible joke.

"Well Blake? Care to explain yourself?" Weiss asks, her arms crossed. Her voice was still icy and she did her best to ignore the disappointing glare coming from Pyrrha. Blake sighs.

"Well as you can clearly see.. I'm a Faunus. I hid this from you guys as I wasn't comfortable with myself nor did I know your opinions on Faunus," Blake starts out. "And I was part of the White Fang when I was younger..."

"Are you still apart of them?" Luxord asks, arching an eyebrow.

"No. I'm not. I was in it when the White Fang was a peaceful group. Eventually the leadership changed and the White Fang got more aggressive. It didn't start out as terrorism and when it started heading towards terrorism, that's when I left," Blake answers.

"And from what you said at the cafe, you equate all Faunus to being horrible," Axel says, looking at Weiss. "Wanna explain what caused that little revelation Snowflake?" he asks, an almost cruel smirk on his face. This causes Weiss to scowl at the redhead.

"The White Fang constantly attack my family! I have family and friends that disappeared because of them. Additionally, a lot of the board members of the Schnee Dust Company have been executed. With EVERYTHING the White Fang did to my father and the company gave me a horrible childhood!" Weiss explodes. Blake's face darkens.

"You think YOU had a horrible childhood?" Blake snaps. Gone was the calm demeanor and in its place was fury. "At least YOU weren't discriminated against for being you! You didn't have to watch as humans SLAUGHTERED your friends and their families as you stood powerless against them," Blake rages. She then closes her eyes and takes a deep breath to calm herself. "Tell me Weiss... Do you know about the horrible conditions the Faunus laborers have to deal with in your family's Dust mines?"

"No... I don't know the exact conditions," Weiss says, wincing a bit. She hadn't truly realized horrible the Faunus had it. While yes her childhood was terrible, she knew Blake and most Faunus have it worse than her. The white themed Huntress-in-Training realized that she at least had an escape. Swallowing her pride, Weiss looks at Blake. "Blake, please look at me.. I need to apologize."

"Wait, really?" Blake asks, her gold eyes snapping to Weiss. Her ears perked up.

"Yes. I apologize for letting my issues with my father cloud my judgement. I also take back every negative thing I've said in regards to the Faunus. While I may have had a horrible childhood, I realize that you've had it far worse and I shouldn't be trying to make it seem like mine was worse. I am sorry Blake, truly sorry," Weiss says, her voice full of sincerity. Blake smiles a bit.

"Your forgiven Weiss.. Just try to be a bit more open," the cat Faunus says. Weiss nods and smiles to what Blake was saying.

"Alright, hug it out you two," Axel comments, grinning a bit. Both Blake and Weiss glare lightly at him.

"You just HAD to go and ruin the moment, didn't you Axel?" Roxas groans.

"Yup!" Axel says cheekily.

"Uh, guys, not to interrupt what I assume would be playful banter but those weird Heartless are start to form at the bottom of the clock tower.." Ren points out.

"Crap. Not everyone has their weapons. Who has their weapons?" Ruby asks. She hated not having her Crescent Rose on her!

"Luxord and myself," Zexion speaks up.

"I got mine!" Sun grins. "I'm Sun Wukong by the way!"

"I'm armed and ready," Yang smirks as her Ember Celica shift into the gauntlet form.

"Can you four hold them off while the rest of us wait for our lockers?" Jaune asks.

"Wait, before anyone summons their lockers, we should only have a select few do it as we don't want lockers everywhere," Roxas points out. Zexion nods in agreement.

"Yang, Luxord, Sun and myself can hold them off while you guys figure out who should join in," Zexion says. With a nod from Roxas, Zexion and Luxord run and jump off the tower, going through some that had just appeared in the air. Yang shrugs and just joins them in leaping off the tower with a loud WHOOP and Sun sweatdrops before following suit.

"Are they crazy?" Weiss asks, shocked that the four just JUMPED off the damn tower.

"Nope. But Axel, myself, Pyrrha and one more person," Roxas says, calling his locker so that it was believable that he was weaponless. Axel was doing the same and Pyrrha went with it as well.

"Ren. You should do it. You'll help keep damage control to a minimum," Jaune says. "Your weapons aren't too large and you're not destructive."

"Right," Ren says, calling his locker. To not damage the tower, Roxas, Axel, Pyrrha and Ren quickly climb down the tower and jump off closer to the bottom since they didn't have Heartless to jump onto. As their feet hit the street, the lockers land next to them and the four join the fray.

 **~At the same time elsewhere...~**

Qrow flies his way to Beacon, going as fast as his little crow wings would allow him to. He gets to the school grounds and flies up to the windows that looked into Ozpin's office. There was no time for him to go through the proper way and he lands on the window sill. He was glad that Ozpin was in his office and he rapid fire pecks the window to get Ozpin's attention. The grey haired headmaster hears the pecking and looks over before getting up. He opens the window and the crow flies in, morphing into Qrow.

"What is so urgent that you had to come in through the window Qrow?" Ozpin asks.

"I have the last proof of evidence we need to bring in Team RAZL for questioning," Qrow immediately answers. Surprise is written upon Ozpin's face.

"Well, what is it Qrow?" Ozpin asks as he sends a message to both Ironwood and Glynda that they had the final piece to bring in Team RAZL.

"I'll answer that when James and Glynda are present," Qrow says. Ozpin nods and he sits. Ironwood immediately calls in and it was only a few minutes later when Glynda finally gets into Oz's office. She nods to Ironwood before looking at the group.

"What evidence did you find Qrow?" Glynda asks. All eyes turn to the drunkard.

"They can open portals. Similar to Raven but just pure darkness. It felt like the Grimm," Qrow says.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Bring them in!" Ironwood says.

"They're not on campus right now. They're out in Vale," Qrow says. Ironwood swears under his breath.

"Well, I'll send a message to Roxas to ask him to come up to your office Ozpin," Glynda says, pulling out her Scroll.

"Wait. Don't do that. If they get a message asking them to come up to my office when they haven't done any wrong, they could get suspicious and plan ahead," Ozpin says. "If we catch them out of nowhere, they won't be able to prepare."

"...Right. We don't know who they are and what they're fully capable of," Glynda says, frowning. She puts her Scroll away.

"James, would you be able to stay on call until they get here?" Ozpin asks.

"Yeah, I'll just be doing other things in the mean time," Ironwood answers. Qrow looks at the others.

"I guess I'm bringing them in?" Qrow asks, arching an eyebrow.

"Yes, if that's not any trouble," Ozpin answers. Qrow was about to answer when he gets a message from Ruby.

"Well, this works out too perfectly. Apparently those Heartless things have popped up near the clock tower. I'll just bring Team RAZL in after the battle," Qrow says. He runs towards the open window and as he yeets himself through it, he morphs into a bird to get to the clock tower quickly. Flying almost as quickly as he did to get to Ozpin, Qrow takes about twenty minutes to get to the clock tower. He morphs behind a building before pulling out Harbringer in sword form to assist the teens in their fight. He notices that Team RAZL, Pyrrha, Ren, Yang and some monkey Faunus were fighting and saw that four lockers were in the street. He figured that Roxas and Axel had summoned their lockers to fit in. As the veteran Huntsman fought off the Heartless, he noticed that Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Jaune and Nora had stayed up top. With his expert help, the fight comes to a close and Qrow puts his weapon away. Ruby had chosen that moment to use her Semblance to zip down to the street and basically tackle Qrow.

"Thank you Uncle Qrow! I knew we could count on you!" Ruby squeals. Qrow chuckles and pats Ruby's head.

"I couldn't ignore your distress message pipsqueak. Though good on you lot for minimizing the damage since you're only students," Qrow says.

"Well it was our leader's idea after all," Luxord says, praising the shorter blonde.

"And speaking of your leader... I need you four to come with me to Oz's office. He wants to have a word with you," Qrow says. Teams JNPR and RWBY looked confused as to what the Headmaster could want with their fellow team. They wonder if Team RAZL did something wrong. Meanwhile, Team RAZL all got the distinctive feeling that somehow, their secret had been found out. Not wanting to cause a scene, the team of Nobodies follow the Huntsman back to Beacon. It was a very long, silent and tense trip back to Beacon and it seemed even more intense as they got into the elevator that went all the way up to Ozpin's office.

"Shit..." Axel swears under his breath when he spots Glynda and an unknown male via video call in the room.

"Shit is right Axel... Shit is right.." Luxord mutters to his fellow Nobody. They walk further into the office.

"Have a seat Team RAZL. We have a lot to discuss," Ozpin says, gesturing to the four seats. The tone that Ozpin used indicated that the Organization members would NOT being getting out of this and the four Nobodies complied.

"This is General Ironwood. He's the Headmaster of Atlas Academy," Glynda says introducing the General to the Nobodies so that they would know who he was, just to be polite. Ozpin takes a long sip of hot chocolate before speaking to the group, his brown eyes staring intently at them.

"Now then, who are you four really?"


	11. The Tides Have Shifted

The office was silent after Ozpin's question leaves his mouth. The four adults stare at the four supposed students. Roxas was looking away from their gazes and off to the side. Axel was looking up at the ceiling. Zexion had a blank face, staring past the headmaster while Luxord just held a smirk while playing with a few cards. None of the Nobodies were going to give in that easily. Ozpin would play the waiting game and so he just leans back in his chair. Glynda just bores her bright green gaze into each Nobody, hoping to crack one of them. Qrow just watches out of the corner of his eye while taking a nice swig from his flask. James was getting twitchy and he starts to pace. Five minutes pass, then ten, fifteen and after twenty minutes of the waiting and silence game, James explodes.

"We know you're not from Remnant! Explain yourselves now!" the Atlas Headmaster demands.

"James! You should have better patience than this!" Glynda scolds. Axel looks over and smirks. Oh it was time to have some fun before they were completely outed.

"Aw, is Jamey-whamey getting all upset that he's not getting any answers~?" Axel asks, smirking widely as he leans forward. Qrow couldn't help but snort at the way Axel was starting to get under James's skin.

"That's _General_ Ironwood to you," James scolds.

"Oh! My bad! A general! Did you hear that boys? We've got a general in our midst! Oh but what a shame he's not here in person... Otherwise I'd just be shaking in my boots," Axel teases, the smirk getting crueler. Luxord smirks more while Roxas and Zexion shake their heads.

"Who do you think you are? Speaking to me in such a manner?" James scowls. Qrow, despite knowing that these kids could potentially be bad, couldn't help but snicker. Glynda was exasperated at James and Ozpin just watches. Axel stands up.

"Why, let me introduce myself~ I am Axel Brändle, a member of Team RAZL. Got it memorized?" Axel says, tapping his temple on his signature catchphrase. Glynda, not wanting Axel to further antagonize James, steps in.

"Please sit back down and answer our questions. Don't make this any harder than it already is," Glynda says, glaring hard at the spiky redhead. Axel just grins at Glynda before sitting back down, watching as James fumes in the background.

"If I may be so bold, but what proof do you have that we're not from Remnant?" Zexion challenges. "After all, you cannot make a legitimate claim without proof."

"Smart question Mr. Somnium. We have our proof, some of it circumstantial. While not unusual, your combat wear is eeriely coordinated to a t. You all have Aura yet you feel similar to the Grimm. Additionally, Headmistress Blaze does not remember your team," Ozpin starts out.

"I ran your profiles through all of Remnant's databases and you popped up no where," James adds.

"When those.. Heartless appeared, I do not see how it was possible for you to have your weapons Mr. Brändle. Additionally, the fact that you lot knew how to expertly deal with them is highly suspicious," Glynda offers up.

"I remember your cloaks and unlocking a silver Aura. And out of all of you, only Zexion's Aura color has yet to be revealed. And lastly, I saw you," Qrow says, pointing to Axel, "open a dark portal when you went searching for Blake this afternoon."

"I take it that's enough proof Mr. Somnium? If that's truly your name," Ozpin says, a very pleased look on his face. The team of Nobodies look at one another and they silently agree that there was no point in beating around the bush anymore. Roxas speaks up.

"You caught us. We're not from Remnant. But our first names are indeed our names. We don't have last names," Roxas says.

"And before you ask where we are from, myself and Roxas do not remember which world we are originally from," Luxord adds on.

"But Zexion and I are from a world called Radiant Garden. Though currently we reside in a world called The World that Never Was," Axel says, running a hand through his spikes.

"Another world? I assume those dark portals Qrow mentioned are how you travel between all of these worlds?" Ozpin asks.

"That would be correct. And before you ask, yes there are many more worlds than just this one but it is very hard to access other worlds if you don't have the Corridors of Darkness or a Keyblade," Zexion says. Roxas holds up Oblivion when Zexion mentioned his weapon.

"What are you then? You have such a Grimm feel..." Qrow says.

"We are something called a Nobody. We are a special type of Heartless. Our original forms' hearts were taken over by Darkness but since ours were strong, we were able to produce a Nobody and retain our original appearance," Zexion says.

"To put it simply, we are a shell of our original beings with a soul but no heart. We do not feel emotions but can mimic them since we have the memories to do so," Luxord says.

"You have Aura as you have a soul but that Grimm like feel was the missing heart... Intriguing.." Glynda muses.

"Why are you here on this world?" James asks.

"We're gathering intel on this world mainly. I'm also gathering up the Hearts that the Heartless have captured. But yeah, my weapons are the only ones that can release the Hearts," Roxas says.

"But here's the important question - Are you aligned with Salem?" Qrow says, folding his arms across his chest.

"I beg your pardon? Who is this Salem character you speak of?" Luxord asks arching a well defined eyebrow. The adults look among one another, as if having a silent conversation. If Nobodies could feel, then they'd definitely be feeling confusion right about now. Sounds like this is something they would have to report to when they call him in later to report the recent shenanigans.

"Well, since you don't have any idea who she is, I believe it is safe to assume that you're a third party," Ozpin says. "But the question is... What do we do with you?"

"Uh since this is about us.. Perhaps we could have information on who this Salem person is?" Roxas suggests. "And to sweeten the pot, maybe I dunno, you don't out us and we help you the best we can with the Heartless problem?" he tacks on. His teammates smirk a bit at the temptation that Roxas quickly presented. Ozpin leans back in his chair and looks at the Nobodies, not liking that he had been bested.

"Smart move Roxas. Though I suppose you've backed us into a corner because we don't know what else you all are capable of. Very well, here's the deal - We bring you into our circle to keep an eye on you and give you this.. information you need about Remnant, and in return you become the Heartless Extermination Squad and you'll get special permissions to do your work when necessary. Does this seem fair to everyone?" Ozpin says.

"I suppose it'll do. I don't like it but it is necessary at this point," Glynda says, frowning a bit.

"I'd like to add one more thing - Qrow is their supervisor while since he's acting as security and they are students technically so they need a professional Huntsman or Huntress," James says.

"Works with me if it works with them," Qrow says.

"Yeah, that'll work" Roxas says, nodding in agreement.

"Oh, and try not to involve my nieces or the others you have befriended if possible," Qrow says.

"That is the goal. We're trying not to get too attached so that when our goal is complete, we can leave with no strings attached," Luxord says. With everyone in agreement, Ozpin starts drawing up the permissions he would have to grant Team RAZL so they could form the HES and get to work when necessary. James takes his leave while Glynda fills the Nobodies in on the whole Salem deal. Once Team RAZL had all the information and permissions, they take their leave, dismissing their weapons since their secret was out to those within the office. The four males were hoping to avoid the teams that they had befriended as they knew that they would ask questions.

"Wait, instead of trying to sneak back, why don't we just use a Corridor?" Roxas says stopping the others.

"...Good idea Roxas. I was so busy internalizing the information that I didn't think to do that," Zexion says. Axel and Luxord do a quick perimeter sweep before Axel opens a Corridor. Roxas, Luxord and Zexion hurry through first and Axel enters last, the Corridor closing behind him. They emerge into their dorm room, Luxord, Axel and Roxas sit down at the makeshift meeting table while Zexion went to go retrieve Saïx. Moments later the blue haired Nobody enters into the room behind Zexion.

"Zexion tells me something major popped up?" Saïx asks, arching a blue eyebrow at the assembled Nobodies.

"Yeah, since I guess part of it is my fault, I suppose I'll explain," Axel says, taking responsibility.

"Very well, report," Saïx says, crossing his arms over his chest.

"So basically, Ozpin, Glynda, some douche named James Ironwood, and the guy who unlocked Zexion's Aura immediately leaped onto the fact that we don't belong here. They searched for proof and two of the biggest factors were my chakrams and then I caught using a Corridor. That guy, Qrow, must have been hidden somehow. So now our secret is out with those guys. But good ole Roxie here turned the tides for us," Axel says. Roxas looks at Saïx.

"Zexion has all of the information about this Salem character we're now aligned against. But basically, we cornered them into keeping what they know about us quiet since they don't know what we're capable of. We're now apart of their little group and have access to wherever we need to go rid the Heartless," Roxas finishes up.

"I see. I will have to report to the Superior about this since this has majorly affected the mission. Zexion, how quick can you get that information to me to relay to the Superior?" Saïx says, his yellow eyes turning to the silver-haired male.

"Give me just a few more moments," Zexion answers. When he had returned, had grabbed paper and a pen before sitting down. While the others talked, Zexion was transferring all the information that Glynda gave him onto the paper. A few more minutes with only the sound of a scratching pen and cards shuffling permeating the awkward silence, Zexion hands the papers to Saïx. "Here."

"Splendid. I'll be back by tomorrow morning," Saïx says, taking the papers. He opens a Corridor and then leaves, returning to the Castle That Never Was. Once Saïx had left, a collective sigh was released from the Nobodies.

"Anyone opposed to just staying the hell in tonight?" Axel asks.

"Nope. I'm just gonna sleep," Roxas says.

"I'm actually going to avoid the library for once," Zexion says.

"Zexion avoiding the library... What has the world come to? But I'm certainly not leaving either. I'm not in the mood to play with our Ice Queen," Luxord says.

"Great! I'm going to go sleep like Roxas!" Axel says, standing up. The redhead and spiky blonde get ready for bed, even though it was very early and they climb into their beds. The sweet release of sleep soon takes over them while Zexion opens his Lexicon and gets engrossed in one of the stories Blake had recommended to him. Luxord decides to dick around on his Scroll, seeing what he could do for funsies on it without disturbing Axel or Roxas from their beauty slumber.

 **~ The Castle That Never Was, Round Room ~**

Saïx makes his way to the Round Room, reading over the papers that Zexion had just given him. A frown creases onto his face as he reads over the new information. While troublesome that some people knew about their existence in Remnant, there were a few perks. It now sounded like there were two candidates for trying to get a Nobody - Cardin that Zexion mentioned earlier and then this new Salem person. Upon entering, he looks up and sees Xemnas sitting on his throne.

"Superior. I have an urgent update from our team in Remnant," Saïx calls up. Xemnas looks down.

"Tell me then," Xemnas hums out. He listens to Saïx relay the information that Roxas had relayed to him. "Interesting..." he says, he comments afterwards.

"What shall we do Superior?"

"We'll focus on the Cardin kid from before to test the waters so to speak. While we know that has handpicked this Cardin kid, we cannot have be the one to turn him. Send to go deal with him."

"Of course Superior. If the Cardin kid is successful, do we attempt to get this.. Salem?"

"Yes. But that cannot be known to our team there since they are being watched by the Headmaster. Go now. Inform about his new task."

"Right away," Saïx says, nodding to Xemnas before walking out of the Round Room to find Xigbar. He finds The Freeshooter in the Grey Area. He walks over and clears his throat. "Xigbar. The Superior has a mission for you."

"Yeah? What does he want me to do lapdog?" Xigbar asks, his eye looking at the blue-haired Nobody who promptly ignores the teasing.

"We have a target on Remnant to turn into a Heartless. Cardin Winchester, leader of Team CRDL. Arrogant, strong, prideful," Saïx answers.

"Alright. I take it I gotta do this without our own team knowing?" Xigbar asks.

"Correct. This is a test run to see how this world will react to such things," Saïx confirms. Xigbar smirks widely and stands up.

"Alright, just leave it to me," Xigbar says. He opens a Corridor and off to Remnant he goes.


	12. Sink Deeper Into Darkness

When Xigbar stepped out of the Corridor and into Remnant, he blinks seeing the world around him. It was oddly vibrant and full of color unlike the Castle That Never Was. Shaking it off, as he had been to other colorful worlds, Xigbar heads out to find this Cardin guy. He was glad that Zexion had thought to give a description of the guy he was looking for. Making sure to stick to the shadows, Xigbar slinks around Beacon. Upon hearing voices coming from around the upcoming corner, No. II finds a spot to hide in and waits. When the voices got louder, it was revealed to be a group of four boys, one of which had silvery-grey armor with gold trim, burnt-orange hair and indigo eyes. Smirking, Xigbar follows his target, waiting for a moment for when Cardin would be alone. Xigbar notices that Cardin comes to a halt and motions for his friends to head on ahead. Xigbar continues to wait.

"Alright asshole, come on out! I know you're following me!" Cardin says, once his friends were out of earshot. Xigbar chuckles and was impressed with Cardin's abilities. He steps out and approaches him.

"You knew I was following you kid?" Xigbar calls out, causing Cardin to whip around.

"Yeah, could feel someone watching me and following me," Cardin says, sizing up Xigbar. "Weird, you look like those Vacuo losers with that cloak."

"Vacuo losers? Now who in the world could you be talkin about?" Xigbar asks, arching an eyebrow. He was playing dumb of course but he didn't want to give it all away. Besides, this could be helpful.

"Team RAZL.. Roxas, Axel, Zexion and Luxord. Come strutting in here from Vacuo, thinking they're the shit. So, you one of those losers?" Cardin says.

"Nope! Don't even know who you're talking about! However, I got offer for you kid," Xigbar says, walking closer to Cardin. Cardin subconsciously reaches for his mace. Xigbar notices and puts his hands up in a peaceful manner. "Relax! I'm not going to hurt you. Besides, you could probably crush my head with that mace before I even laid a hand on you."

"Sorry if I don't trust a one-eyed stranger offering me something weird probably," Cardin says, his hand on his mace now.

"Fair enough. But... I'll stop right here. I have an offer that could make you more powerful than those losers you told me about," Xigbar says. He smirks when seeing interest flash across Cardin's eyes.

"...Go on..." Cardin says. Depending on what this guy could offer him, it could be just what he needed to prove he's the best!

"That's what I like to hear! Now, tell me have you seen some weird little creatures popping up?" Xigbar asks.

"Yeah, they were fuckin weird. But what about them?" Cardin responds, arching a burnt-orange eyebrow. Instead of answering, Xigbar just summons a Dusk to his side. Cardin immediately has his mace completely in hand and aimed at the Dusks. "What the fuck?!"

"These are called Dusks. They're a type of those weird creatures that you saw. I can grant you the power to have control over creatures like these. Make it harder for Team RAZL to show off by overwhelming them... Get rid of them with ease yourself.." Xigbar says.

"They.. They won't harm me if I control them?" Cardin questions.

"Correct! They'll obey your every command but all you gotta do kid is to give into your darker desires," Xigbar answers, dismissing the Dusks. Cardin lowers his mace a bit.

"And by accepting this power.. I can more easily put those stupid animals into their places right?" Cardin asks. Xigbar grins widely.

"Of course! Put those lowly Faunus into their places as well as the weaklings that continue to make you look like a fool!" Xigbar responds, encouraging Cardin. The grin widens into a smirk when seeing something dark flash across Cardin's indigo eyes. "So... What do you say kid?"

"I accept your offer," Cardin smirks. He puts his mace away and approaches Xigbar. He shakes the proffered hand and feels a faint surge of power enter him. "Now what?"

"Try summoning something. I will warn you, it will take practice to summon the Dusks I summoned earlier but you should still be bale to get something," Xigbar answers. Cardin nods and as he feels for the dark power that he felt enter a few moments ago. Upon feeling it, he concentrates and after a few moments, he hears clapping from Xigbar. Cardin looks and he smirks upon seeing the army of Grimm looking birds with the bizarre heart symbol on them surrounding him and Xigbar. "Well done! You're a natural!"

"Thank you," Cardin smirks. He then sends the birds flying off for the time being, having them wait in a spot to hopefully ambush Team RAZL the next day.

"I'll check in on ya in a few days kiddo. The name's Xigbar by the way," Xigbar says before walking off and disappearing into the Dark Corridor. Cardin just smirks more upon having this new power of his. He then heads back to his team's dorm. Soon Beacon will be his.

 **~ The Next Morning ~**

Saïx appears in Team RAZL's room, rudely awakening Axel since the redhead was STILL asleep. After making sure that each Nobody was awake, Saïx gathers them at the makeshift meeting table. The blue haired Nobody looks at each member, gauging their reactions as he takes his sweet time to tell them the news. He was glad to see Roxas squirm a bit at the very least and starts speaking.

"I spoke with the Superior yesterday after our meeting. I have news for how you shall continue," Saïx starts. "You're to continue on as normal, with the exception of trying to get as much information about Salem as you possibly can."

"Anything about the Heartless?" Roxas pipes up.

"Yes. Increase your focus on hunting the Heartless down, especially since you have that special squad of yours," Saïx says. The other four nod to what Saïx was saying.

"Aye aye captain~" Axel says.

"That is all," No. VII says before heading back to the Castle That Never Was, leaving the other four in silence.

"Well! That's all settled! I suppose we should prepare for the unavoidable questioning from Teams RWBY and JNPR!" Axel says.

"Yeah... They're gonna want to know," Roxas says. With that thought in mind, the four Nobodies get themselves ready and presentable and adjust the furniture to look a bit more welcoming and less like a meeting room. After all, they wouldn't want their friends to know that they could be planning something.

After half an hour, there's a knock at the door and Roxas opens the door. To none of the Organization members' surprise, it was Teams RWBY and JNPR. Stepping aside, Roxas lets them in, noticing that after Ruby sat, her silver eyes were hardcore focused on him. He closes the door when Ren stepped into the room and makes himself comfortable. The leader noticed that the most intense gazes came from Ruby, Weiss and Nora. Weiss decides to break the silence as she wanted answers.

"So, what the hell happened yesterday? All I know is that Ruby's and Yang's uncle came to the rescue and then you four were being herded off by him to go talk to Ozpin," Weiss says, looking at each of them in turn.

"Well Roxas? You want to explain since you're the leader?" Axel asks, grinning that cheeky grin of his. Roxas groans.

"You're an ass Axel..." Roxas sighs. "But it wasn't anything bad if you guys were worried."

"Oh good... You guys aren't in trouble," Ruby says, relaxing a bit, the intensity of her stare having lessened.

"So if it wasn't something bad... What was the super awesome thing that happened?!" Nora asks, unable to contain her excitement any longer.

"Well let's put it this way.. We are now working with Qrow as we are forming what will be called the Heartless Execution Squad, or HES for short," Zexion says.

"That's so cool!" Ruby and Nora say in unison, stars in their eyes.

"Oh that's amazing! You guys will do so wonderfully!" Pyrrha says, clapping her hands together.

"So by working with our Uncle Qrow, you get to use your weapons without a license. Nice," Yang says.

"Anyone got any plans for the rest of the day now that we know what is up with Team RAZL?" Jaune asks.

"Nope. Got something in mind Jaune?" Luxord asks, arching a platinum blonde eyebrow.

"Well, we could all hang out in Vale again. Beats being stuck here," Jaune says.

"Works with me," Ren says, nodding in agreement with Jaune.

"That's a wonderful idea Jaune," Pyrrha smiles.

"AWE YEAH! FRIENDLY BONDING TIME! LEGGOOOOO!" Nora shouts.

"Yeah! Friendly bonding!" Ruby cheers.

"I guess we have nothing better to do than to go with them," Zexion hums out.

"I'm down for more ice cream," Axel says. Roxas perks up at the mention of ice cream and nods in agreement. With everyone in agreement of going into Vale again, the 12 students get what they would need for a day down in Vale, being mostly wallets and bags. Roxas made sure to shoot a message to Qrow so that the man knew they were going to be in Vale. With Team RAZL having their weapons with them and ready, the 12 go out to the bullheads and take one going into the city. Axel and Roxas were having a hard time keeping away from the other two teams, genuinely enjoying their presence as they hung out. It reminded the two of the time they spent on top of the clock tower with Xion in Twilight Town. Zexion and Luxord were having a much easier time being able to fake it as they did not have something similar in the Organization as the other two did. As they all walk through the city, chatting, something black and red catches Roxas's eye and he looks over. He sighs as he pulls his keyblades off his back.

"We'll be back in a moment.. Looks like we got Heartless to deal with," Roxas states before running off towards the Heartless. Axel, Luxord and Zexion all follow their leader towards the Heartless. Teams RWBY and JNPR stay behind but find a place to wait for them that wasn't too inconspicuous. The Heartless that Roxas found were once more Grimm like but instead of the hyena like ones, it was a large swarm of birds. They were just as soulless black as the hyenas with the Heartless symbol on their bellies. A white bone mask was on their face, bright yellow peering from under the white bone mask.

"Ugh. Fliers are always such a pain in the ass to deal with," Axel groans before starting to fight off the Heartless with the other three Nobodies. It took some time since trying to hit flying things that divebombed you and used magic were pretty hard to hit. As the last Heart floats up into the sky and disappears, the Nobodies put their weapons on their person and start heading back towards where the others were. It didn't take them long to as they were all coughing as smoke start to dissipate. Zexion was the first to notice that Weiss was not among their friends and Team RAZL runs up to the remaining seven.

"Are you guys ok? What happened?" Zexion asks, faking concern on his face and in his voice.

"Smoke screen grenade," Blake responds once she stopped coughing. "I realized it too late and didn't see who threw it."

"Who ever threw it must have taken Weiss!" Ruby says, panicking a bit.

"Why would they take Weiss..?" Roxas asks, trying to remember.

"She's the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company so there are many reasons," Luxord answers. "But let's start searching."

"Right. Axel, you're pretty good at finding people," Roxas says.

"Yeah. Luxord, Blake, both of you help me," Axel says. Luxord and Blake nod and they head off with Axel to search for where Weiss could have possibly been taken. Blake does find the trail, having found Weiss's earring. Axel and Luxord thank Blake for her help and the two run off to find Weiss, the earring being enough to set them on the right path. As they ran through the streets and alleyways, it did not take long to find Weiss and her captor. The two were surprised to see a few Dusks surrounding the passed out Weiss and a woman smirking as she sat on a nearby crate.

"Ah, two of the Nobodies I wanted to see~" the woman says, hopping off the crate and approaching the two.

"Who the hell are you lady?" Axel asks, narrowing his eyes at the woman.

"The name's Cinder Fall. You're Axel and You're Luxord," the now named Cinder says.

"We're going to ask that you hand Weiss over before we are forced to hurt you," Luxord says firmly.

"Oh I'll give the little heiress back alright, but only on one condition. Your team helps me and my cause," Cinder offers.

"And your cause is...?" Luxord prompts.

"To collect various relics and bring about a new era on Remnant," Cinder explains. "So, what do you say?"

"I say this!" Axel says, chucking one of his chakrams at Cinder's face. "Got it memorized?"

"Fine! I'll just force you to join me then!" Cinder says once she recovers from the hit.

"BRING IT ON!" Axel says, grinning madly. He charges Cinder while Luxord slips past them and the Dusks before scooping up Weiss and running off with her, knowing that Axel would be fine with handling Cinder on his own. Just as he gets about halfway to where the others were, Weiss starts to stir and her blue eyes open.

"Luxord...?"


End file.
